A Difficult Kind
by CMarie1227
Summary: Dylan finds his way to Brenda after Toni's death. *This story does not follow the Season 6 storylines after Toni's death.*
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note**__**:**__ So, this story takes place a few months after Toni's death. There are not a whole lot of similarities between this story and what actually happened on the show. I don't like the storylines from Season 6, so I just pretended that they didn't happen. Brandon, Kelly, Donna, Steve, and Valerie are in this story, but only as side players, they do not have a storyline of their own, save for their involvement in the Brenda/Dylan line. Please let me know what you think!_

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 1 – Dylan shows up in London a few months after Toni's death to get a little comfort from an old friend**_

Brenda had just finished with rehearsal for the new play that she was cast in and was walking toward the exit of the theatre when she saw him.

Dylan was standing just inside the door to the theatre, holding his motorcycle helmet in one hand, and just staring at her.

Her heart broke the moment she saw his face. She quickly walked over to him and put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

'Hey, Bren,' he said softly. She didn't say anything to him, just held onto him until he eased up his grip around her waist. She pulls back from him and smiles.

'Let's go,' she says.

Dylan had called her a few weeks after Toni was murdered. He told her that he had left Beverly Hills and was traveling around and that he may need a place to hide out for a while. She offered her apartment as a home away from home to him, feeling the need to give him a place where he would feel safe. He had accepted her offer and told her that he would be arriving in London within the next month or two.

Dylan handed her his helmet and climbed onto his motorcycle. She joined him and directed him back to her apartment.

After getting settled and making some coffee, Brenda joins Dylan on her couch.

'Thanks again for letting me stay with you, Bren. You don't know how much I just needed to be away from all of that,' he says to her, sipping his coffee.

'It's not a problem, Dylan. You know that I will always be here for you. You can stay as long as you want. I may be out touring for a week here and there, and you are certainly welcome to join me on the road, but you can hang out here too,' she explains to him.

He produces a weak smile and says, 'Thanks.'

Brenda tells Dylan what she has been doing since not returning to Beverly Hills. He sits on her couch listening to her telling stories of the people that she's met and the shows that she's worked on. He realizes halfway through their conversation that Brenda had definitely grown up since the last time he actually saw her. She is confident and happy with the decision that she made a few years ago.

'Dylan, I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry for not coming back as I said I would. I never really got a chance to tell you that and explain what was happening at the time,' she says.

'Bren, I'm kind of glad you didn't come back at that point. I mean, you wouldn't have wanted to see me like that anyway,' he admits.

Brenda smiles at him and gets up to pick up her ringing phone. She talks to the person on the other end as he watches her.

She is laughing and flirting with whoever she is talking to and he immediately feels that jealous pang. He tries to shake it off and almost laughs at himself and the way he always seems to feel when she's around him.

'Sorry, that was a friend of mine,' she says.

'Bren, I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?' he asks her.

'No, of course not, Dylan. Did you want some more coffee?' she asks him and gets up to get herself a refill.

'No, I'm fine. Actually, I think I need to lie down for a while, I'm exhausted.'

'Oh, okay, well, let me show you to the smallest room on the planet,' she says with a smile.

He gets up and grabs his bag. He follows her down the short hallway and into one of the rooms.

She flips the light on and he sees a bed and a dresser, but not much else in this tiny room.

'It's perfect,' he says.

'Well, let me know if you need anything. The bathroom is right next door,' she says.

'Thanks, Bren,' he says. He puts his bag down and his arms around her.

'Have a good nap,' she says, breaking the embrace.

She walks back to her kitchen and begins to wash the dishes that are sitting in her sink. She finishes up in the kitchen and sits down at her table to read over the script for the new play she is in.

She wraps herself up in reading over the play several times and making notes about her character that she doesn't notice that a few hours have gone by and Dylan is up and standing in the living room watching her.

She looks up briefly and gasps.

'Oh, Dylan, you scared me,' she says putting her hand to her chest.

'Sorry, Bren, I didn't want to bother you. You look like you're really busy,' he says.

'Just making notes for my character,' she says and pauses. 'Are you hungry?'

Dylan looks down at the ground, thinking about her question. 'Actually, I think I am,' he says with an uncertain tone.

'Dylan, have you been eating?' she asks him with a serious tone. She looks him up and down and realizes that he's definitely lost some weight since the last time she saw him.

'A little bit here and there,' he says sheepishly.

Brenda gets up from the table, grabs her keys and her phone, puts her shoes on and stands at the front door.

'Let's go,' she says.

Dylan puts a pair of shoes on and follows her outside. They walk down the street to the corner and into a pub called The Dog & Duck.

'Brenda, my darling, I was wondering if I'd see you tonight!' the man behind the bar exclaims.

'Hi Aiden, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine from California. This is Dylan,' she says.

Aiden sticks his hand out to meet Dylan's outstretched hand. 'Nice to meet you, Dylan. Well, kids, have a seat and I'll bring over some menus,' he says.

Brenda walks over to one of the tables in the corner and sits down.

'Come in here a lot, Bren?' Dylan asks with a smile.

She returns his smile and says, 'It's just convenient.'

Aiden brings over a few menus and asks what they'd like to drink.

'The usual, I presume,' he says to Brenda. Brenda immediately gets a nervous look on her face that Dylan definitely notices.

'You can drink around me, Bren, it's not a big deal,' he says to her.

'It just feels weird to be doing that. I'll just have tea this time, Aiden,' she says.

'Me too,' Dylan says.

Dylan notices the strange look Aiden gives her as he walks away to get their drinks.

'Bren, it's really okay. I'm fine with it,' he says, trying to reassure her.

'I'm sorry, Dylan, I can't do it. Maybe one day, but not today,' she says.

Brenda's phone beeps loudly and starts to vibrate on the table. She picks it up and looks at the name. She could not cover the look on her face as she read the name on her phone fast enough for Dylan not to catch it.

'Who is it, Bren?' Dylan asks her with concern.

She silences the phone and shakes her head. Brenda looks over at Dylan.

'It was Brandon. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he's calling me looking for you,' she says to him.

'Why would he be calling you looking for me? I didn't tell them where I was going or anything,' Dylan says.

'Dylan, listen, I have a confession to make,' Brenda starts. 'I haven't talked to Brandon in almost six months.'

Dylan displays a look of shock on his face and can't seem to shake it off. 'What do you mean you haven't spoken to Brandon in six months? That's ridiculous. He was giving us updates about what you were up to, so how is it possible that you haven't talked to him?'

'He was getting those from my parents,' Brenda admits. She doesn't really want to go into why she hadn't been talking to Brandon with Dylan right now.

'Look, I'll explain it all to you later, but that's how I know that this probably has something to do with you,' she says.

'It could be anything, Bren. I mean, one of your parents could be sick or something,' he says.

'I just talked to my mother yesterday. They are not sick and the only thing that has changed between now and then is you showing up. I'm not the smartest person on Earth, but I can put two and two together,' she says to him.

'Maybe you're right, but I've been gone for a few months now. Why don't you listen to the voicemail and see.'

Brenda looks at the phone blinking with a new message. She stares at the phone as if it had personally offended her. She reluctantly picks up the phone and dials her voicemail as Aiden brings their drinks over.

'I'll have the usual, Aiden,' Brenda says while holding the phone up to her ear.

While Dylan orders, she listens to her brother's message.

'_Bren, it's Brandon. Look, as much as I'd like to keep this speak no evil thing going, we're all really worried around here and we need your help. You don't have to call me back if you don't want to, but please call Kelly or Donna or even Steve. You know I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't really important.'_

'What did he say?' Dylan asks as she puts the phone back on the table.

'It was really kind of vague. He just said that they were all really worried and needed my help with something. I have no idea what the hell that means,' Brenda says.

'Let me listen,' he says. She puts her password in for her voicemail and hands the phone over to Dylan.

He listens to the message, furrowing his brow the entire time.

'You're right, that is really weird. He sounds so indifferent, I can't tell what the problem is,' Dylan says.

'The indifference comes from the fact that he had to call me, I'm sure. Whatever, I'll call someone later,' she says.

'I can tell that you really don't want to talk about what happened between you and Brandon, but you do realize that you will have to tell me sooner or later, right?' he says.

Brenda smiles and nods at him. They eat their dinner and Dylan asks Brenda how she likes living in London.

'It really is an amazing city to live in. I'm kind of glad you're here actually, because I think that there are parts of London that you are absolutely going to fall in love with that you might not have even known they were there,' she tells him.

'Really?' he asks skeptically.

'I swear, I'll be able to show you at least one or two places that you didn't even know existed,' she says confidently.

'I might have to take you up on that,' he says as their food shows up.

They finish their meal and walk back up to Brenda's apartment.

'Are you still tired?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan shakes his head. 'Why?'

'Well, one of my friends is a street performer and he is performing down in Covent Garden tonight. I was going walk down and see his show,' she says. 'Do you want to stay here or come with me?'

'I'll come with you,' he says quickly.

She nods at him and begins to walk down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A Difficult Kind**_** – **_**Chapter 2**_

Brenda and Dylan stand on the sidewalk in Covent Garden watching Brenda's friend perform. They watch him trying to balance himself on a ladder, while juggling rings with another guy who is standing on the ground. He is telling jokes and trying to get the audience into his performance. A good number of people have stopped to watch him and Brenda spots a few more of her friends. She notices that they have seen her and come walking over to where she is standing with Dylan.

'Hey Bren, he's doing great, huh?' one of them says.

'Yeah, hasn't fallen off yet!' Brenda laughs. She sees her friends eyeing up Dylan while they are standing around.

'Brent, Paige, Wyatt, this is Dylan. He's a friend from California,' Brenda says. Dylan shakes hands with them.

'Nice to meet you,' Dylan says.

'Likewise,' Paige replies with sass, looking him up and down.

Normally Dylan would thrive on such an obvious interest in him, but at the moment he was actually a little disgusted. It's not that Paige wasn't a beautiful girl. She had reddish hair, a fair complexion, was tall and perfectly proportionate, but at the moment Dylan couldn't muster the strength to care.

He shifts his weight and tries to get closer to Brenda. They watch her friend perform and after he's done he comes running over to the group.

'Beau, that was great, good show, man,' Wyatt says and slaps him on the back.

'Thanks, I think this is the first time I've managed to do it without falling or dropping anything! Almost lost it there at the end, but I jumped off right in time,' he says.

'It was great,' Brenda says and hugs him.

Beau smiles a very wide smile as Brenda hugs him and Dylan watches his face the entire time she has her arms around him. He is definitely enjoying himself and Dylan feels yet another pang.

'Hi, we haven't met, I'm Dylan,' he says introducing himself to Beau.

Beau slowly lets go of Brenda to shake Dylan's outstretched hand. ' Hi, I'm Beau, nice to meet you, Dylan,' Beau says a little confused.

'Dylan is a friend of mine from California, Beau,' Brenda says trying to clear things up.

'Oh, right, that's great that you've come to visit Brenda. No one else from California has,' Beau says with a slight tinge of attitude.

'Beau,' Brenda warns.

'Sorry, I'm going to go and change. I'll meet you guys at the pub,' he says.

'I'm not going to the pub. We're going to head back. I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?' Brenda says and begins walking back to her apartment.

'Nice to meet all of you,' Dylan says and follows Brenda.

They walk a few blocks before Dylan decides to ask her about Beau.

'Bren, what was he talking about back there?'

'It's nothing, Dylan,' she says quickly.

'Bren, come on now, what's going on?' he stops walking and grabs her arm.

She looks up at him and sighs.

'He's really close with his family and friends, like bordering on obsessively close, and ever since I've known him he asks me when my friends or family will be out to visit me. I tried to laugh it off most of the time, but one day he caught me on a bad day and I just broke down and told him how much I missed it back home and couldn't figure out where I really belonged. He jabbed me with some line about how this would be a perfect situation to pull your good friends close, but that I didn't have any near me,' Brenda tells him, as she begins to tear up.

'I told him that he was just trying to get to me and but when he left my apartment that night, I realized that maybe he was right and I called Donna,' she says.

'Did you get to talk to her?' Dylan asks.

'Yeah, actually, I did. We talked for a little while about just trivial things, but it was enough to calm me down and give me a lot to think about. After I got off of the phone with her, I sat and stared at a wall for about an hour, just thinking about being there and being here. By the time I realized what I was doing, I had convinced myself that there was no room for me anymore in Beverly Hills and that I just didn't care about the same things I used to care about,' she said.

'Is that when you decided not to come back?' Dylan asks her. He watches her nod her head.

Dylan takes her hand to try to comfort her a little bit. He starts walking again and she leads them back to her apartment.

They reach her apartment and go inside. Brenda looks at her phone and sees that it's approaching midnight.

'Well, I'm going to call home, I guess. Wish me luck,' she says.

'Good luck, Bren. Let me know what's going on, okay?'

She nods at him and goes into her bedroom and shuts the door.

She opens her phone and navigates to the missed calls. She hits send on the number that Brandon called from and lets out a huge breath.

* * * * * *

Brandon watches his phone vibrate and Kelly jumps at the sound. Donna, Valerie, and Steve walk across the kitchen to the table where Brandon is sitting.

'It's Brenda,' Brandon tells them. He opens the phone and says, 'Brenda?'

'Hi Brandon,' she says. 'I got your message. What's going on?'

'Look, I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important, but I need you to help us with a few things,' he says.

'A few things, like what?' she says.

'First and foremost, have you seen or heard from Dylan at all in the last few months?' Brandon asks her.

Brenda looks at her closed bedroom door. She channels all of the things she had ever learned about acting and says confidently, 'No, he hasn't contacted me, why?'

'Well, I'm not sure if you know this, but his wife was murdered on a hit taken out by her family that was actually meant for him. He decided that he was going to take some time and get out of dodge for a while and hasn't come back yet,' Brandon explains.

Brenda tries to fake surprise and gasps into the phone. 'Oh my God, Brandon, that's terrible. A hit, you mean, as in the mafia kind of hit?'

'Yeah, she was the nicest, sweetest person, but her family is into it big time,' Brandon says sadly.

'Dylan must feel awful right now. How long has he been gone?'

Brandon answers her questions, not having any idea that she's lying through her teeth.

'He's been gone a few months now. We're all really worried about him, including his mother, who he never actually told that he was taking off. I figured that maybe he would have gone down there to just chill out with her, but she hasn't heard from him either,' Brandon explains.

'That would be the first place I would have looked for him,' she confirms.

'Well, anyway, she's not doing too well and decided to come out here to spend some time with him, only to find that he's gone,' Brandon says.

'What do you mean she's not doing too well?' Brenda asks him very concerned.

'She's sick. She won't go to a traditional doctor, but we called Andrea to get her opinion and according to Iris' symptoms and things she's been telling us, it sounds to Andrea that she may have lupus or some kind of cancer,' Brandon explains.

'Oh my God, Brandon, that sounds really serious,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, but no one can seem to find Dylan to be able to tell him what's going on. I mean, he probably won't even be able to convince her to see a doctor, but it's worth a try, right?'

'Definitely, is she somewhere that I can reach her by phone? Maybe I can help a little bit,' she offers.

'Well, she always did like you, Bren, maybe you can help her. She's staying at Dylan's house for now, since no one is there,' he tells her.

'Okay, well, I'll give her a call and see what I can do,' she says. 'What else did you want to talk to me about?'

Brandon pauses and lets out a breath. 'Christmas,' he says.

'What about it, Brandon?'

'Mom and Dad are coming back into town for Christmas this year and we've already convinced Andrea to come back, and we were all wondering whether or not we'd see you,' he says softly, trying to be as convincing as possible.

'The school is doing their version of 'A Christmas Carol' and you know how that always sucks, maybe you could come and help them do it right this time,' Brandon says trying to throw anything he could think of at her.

When she doesn't answer he clears his throat. 'Your friends really miss you, Bren,' he says.

'Brandon, look, I'm not going to fight with you about this. I haven't come back for Christmas for the past two years, what makes you think I'm going to come back this year? Look, I'll be just ending a show around at that time and will need a break, but I'm not going to be very relaxed coming back to Beverly Hills and being ignored. I don't think that it's a very wise idea,' she tells him.

'Brenda, if we are ever going to work this out, we can't do it over the phone and you know it,' he insists.

'Oh, is that your way of asking me to consider working this out with you, because that's a really crappy way to do it, Brandon,' she tells him.

'You know what, Bren, the main reason I called was for Iris' sake. I've said what I needed to say and really can't think of anything else nice to say,' he finishes as Kelly grabs the phone from him.

'Brenda, don't listen to him, okay, he's just being a little baby,' she says into the phone.

'Kelly?'

'Yeah, hi, I couldn't stand listening to that from here, so I'm sure you're fed up with it by now, right?' she says.

'All we're asking is that you consider coming back for Christmas, just this once. We really want to see you and I especially feel really bad that I haven't been able to come and visit you this entire time that you've been over there. I'm so sorry, Brenda, I really am. Please just think about it, okay?' Kelly pleads.

'I'll think about it Kelly, but I'll tell you right now, that the outlook does not look good,' she tells her.

'That's fine, mull it over for a few weeks and then call me or something,' she says.

'Okay, I will. Look, if that's everything, I'm going to get going, it's late,' Brenda says looking over at the clock.

'Okay, talk to you soon, then,' Kelly says as she hangs up the phone.

'Damn it, Brandon, you said you were going to stay cool, what the hell happened?' Kelly says to him.

'Sorry, I just couldn't help it,' he says to her.

'We really need her to come back and you may have just jeopardized our only chance at this,' Valerie says to him.

Brandon looks over at Valerie. 'Well, I warned you that it was a bad idea for me to call her. I'm surprised that she stayed on the phone that long.'

* * * * * *

Brenda immediately calls over to Dylan's house in the hopes that Iris would answer the phone.

She hears the answering machine and waits for the beep. 'Iris? Are you there? Please pick up, it's Brenda,' she starts to say.

She hears a click and the machine go off. 'Brenda? How did you know that I was here?'

'It's great to hear your voice, Iris. Brandon called me and told me that you were staying at Dylan's,' she says.

'Oh, Brenda, it is great to hear from you. If only I knew where my son was, the world would be right again,' she says with a laugh.

'I wish I could help you with that, but I haven't heard from him in two years,' she says. 'So, what's going on with you? Brandon said that you weren't feeling all that well or something?' Brenda asks her.

* * * * * *

Brenda comes out of her room about 30 minutes later. She walks slowly over to where Dylan had fallen asleep on the couch and shakes him awake.

'Dylan?' she says softly.

'Mmmmm,' he says as he slowly opens his eyes.

'Dylan, wake up, there's something I have to tell you.'

He opens his eyes fully and immediately feels a knot in his chest just by the way she is looking at him.

He sits up on the couch and wipes the sleep out of his eyes.

'I just got off of the phone,' she says. He looks over at the clock next to the couch and sees that it's past two in the morning.

'What's wrong, Bren? What's going on?' he asks her.

'Brandon did call looking for you, but not for any of the reasons you might be able to think up in your head,' she starts telling him.

'What is it?' he says staring intently at her.

'It's your mom, Dylan. She's sick.'

Dylan sits up straighter and leans forward on the couch.

'What's wrong with her?'

'No one is really sure, but they talked to her about her symptoms and called Andrea to try to figure out what it might be, since she won't go and see a doctor. They think it might be lupus or even cancer,' she says softly.

'She came to town looking for you, and since you didn't tell her that you were taking off, she came looking for me at my house and found Brandon instead,' she says. 'He told her that I hadn't been back for a few years and that you had left a few months ago.'

Dylan puts his head in his hands. 'Damn it, I knew I should have called her.'

'Dylan, she's staying at your house. Brandon asked if I had heard from you and I told him that I hadn't. I wasn't really sure if you wanted anyone to know where you were,' she says looking up at him. 'And then I called Iris.'

Dylan picks his head up and looks at her. 'You called her? What did she say?'

'She said that she's a little scared and that she doesn't trust any doctors to help her. She wanted to be with you, just in case what she has is going to kill her,' she says. 'Dylan, I really wanted to tell her that you were here, but I didn't.'

'Maybe I should call her or something,' Dylan says as he gets up off of the couch and begins to pace.

'Listen, I have an idea. It may not be the greatest idea, but it's the only one that I could come up with,' she offers.

'What?'

'Well, she expressed interest in seeing me again. Maybe I could get her to come over here and that way, you could be with her without anyone else knowing where you are,' she suggests.

Dylan continues to pace while he thinks about what Brenda just told him. He thinks about it for a few minutes before speaking again.

'Do you think she'd do it?' Dylan asks and stops to look at her.

'I don't know, Dylan. Look, it's worth a try. If it doesn't work, then you may actually need to tell her that you're here or go home to be with her,' Brenda says carefully.

'I'm not going back, Bren. Not yet, anyway. Let's try your idea first. If it doesn't work, I'll think of something,' he says.

Brenda nods her head and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She dials Dylan's number again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Difficult Kind – Chapter 3**

Iris picks up the phone after Brenda identifies herself again on the answering machine. Dylan begins to pace again as he hears Brenda doing a fantastic job of pitching her idea to his mother. He can't tell whether or not Iris is going for it and as he turns around to walk to the other side of the room he sees Brenda give him the thumbs up sign.

'Oh, Iris, that's great. Listen, I'll set everything up for you, okay? All you have to do is get to the airport. I'll call you with the details tomorrow. I can't tell you how glad I am that you want to come out here. I can't wait to see you,' Brenda says into the phone.

She hangs up and gives Dylan a huge smile.

'She was in love with the idea. She wants to leave right away and get back soon, just in case you decide to show back up in town,' she says.

Dylan laughs a little.

'Thank you, Bren, you always knew what to say to her,' he says. He walks over to where she is standing and puts his arms around her.

She contemplates for a few seconds telling him about Brandon's request for her to come back for Christmas, but decides against it.

'Well, as exciting as this has been, I have to get some sleep so that I'm not dead for rehearsal tomorrow. My computer is over there on the dining room table. Why don't you look up the details to get Iris out here while I'm at rehearsal tomorrow,' she suggests.

'I will, goodnight, Bren,' he says and watches her walk down the hall.

'Goodnight,' she says.

* * * * * *

Dylan wakes up the next morning feeling refreshed. He lays in bed staring at the ceiling enjoying for the first time the feel of a good night's sleep. He didn't wake up once sweating or tossing and turning.

He walks into the kitchen and sees a note from Brenda taped to the coffee maker.

'_Dylan, there's plenty of food in the refrigerator for breakfast __and__ lunch. Eat something, please! Coffee is in the cabinet above the pot. I'll be back around 3. Brenda'_

Dylan smiles at her note and opens the cabinet to find the coffee. He opens the refrigerator and pulls out a roll from a bakery bag. He walks around her house eating the roll, and waiting for the coffeemaker to finish brewing.

He stands in front of her bookshelves and scans the titles. He does a double take and drops down on his haunches to pull out one of the books on her shelf.

'I can't believe she still has this,' he says out loud. He opens to the cover of _'Byron: the Collected Works'_ and reads the inscription inside.

'_Brenda, I know that you probably don't want anything from me right now, but I need to give this to you. Please read the poem on the earmarked page. You will always be with me, and I with you no matter what. Dylan'_

Dylan smiles as he sees that the page is still earmarked. He turns to the poem and begins to read 'When We Two Parted'.

* * * * * *

'Great job today, Brenda. You really nailed that last scene,' Brett says.

'Thanks, Brett. It's always nice to hear a compliment this early from the director,' she says.

'Keep up the good work,' he says.

Brenda grabs her bag and walks out of the theatre with a smile on her face. She's glad that the director saw how hard she was working and mentally pats herself on the back for taking the time to make notes for herself.

She walks back to her apartment from the theatre and stands in front of her door for a few seconds before opening it. She wasn't used to having anyone there waiting for her and felt a slight pang of nervousness before opening the door.

She sees Dylan sitting at the table on the computer with a few books lying out on the table.

'Hey Bren, how was rehearsal?' he asks her.

'Um, great, actually, thanks for asking. I received a very nice compliment from the director,' she tells him and puts her bag down by the door.

'Why are you surprised at that? You are now a very well trained talented actress, right?' he jokes with her.

'Right,' she says with a smile.

She walks over to the table and sees that he has London's version of the White Pages out and a poetry book. She almost gasps out loud when she realizes what poetry book it is.

He sees her looking at the books on the table. 'I thought I'd try to find a doctor for Iris to see when she gets here. There are a few listed under 'Alternative Medicine' that I think she might actually go and see,' he explains.

'Really, are they legit in any way?' she asks him and looks down at the book.

'I think so, I mean, most of them have their M.D. degrees, so how bad could they be?'

'We'll find out, won't we? I'm sure there'll be a way for us to convince her to go,' she says and puts her hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

He hands her a piece of paper with travel details on it.

'I called the airline and set up a flight for her. Here are all of the details you need to give her when you call. Do you think I should go with you to pick her up from the airport?' he asks her.

Brenda thinks about it for a minute. 'I don't think so, Dylan. It might be too much of a shock for her, having just flown 10 hours to get here,' she says.

'Yeah, you're probably right,' he says.

Brenda looks at her watch and says, 'It's definitely too early to call now. I'll wait until after dinner. Did you eat something today?' she asks him.

'Yes, yes, I ate something today. '

Brenda smiles at him and walks into the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

'What's the time difference between here and there?'

'It's eight hours earlier there,' she answers. 'So, it's about 7:30 in the morning right now.'

Brenda pours a cup of coffee and gets her script out of her bag. She sits down on the couch and goes over her notes again.

Trying not to be obvious about it, Dylan steals glances at her over the top of the computer. He pretends to be looking up information about the doctors in the directory, but can't help being drawn to look at her. She stares intently at her script and makes notes on a pad every few minutes. She sticks the pencil behind her ear when she's not using it and he can't help but look at her and remember how beautiful she really is.

After about an hour and a half, she packs her script and pad back into her bag and walks over to him.

'It's a little early for dinner, but if you want we could walk around the city a little,' she suggests.

'That sounds great,' he says and gets up from the table.

She grabs her keys and her phone and he follows her out to the street.

'How far is Trafalgar Square from here?' Dylan asks her.

'Just a short Tube ride,' she says.

'Can we go down there? I've heard a lot about it and I never got to go when I was a kid,' he says.

'Sure, we can. It's surreal down there for New Year's Eve. I mean, I thought New York City was insane just watching it on television, but the square is even crazier. I've never seen that many people all trying to fit in such a small space. Between Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, it's like a race to see which one can hold the most people,' she explains.

Dylan smiles at her as they walk down into the tube station. She gets him a ticket and they get on the train to Trafalgar Square.

* * * * * *

'So, what do we do if she decides not to come back?' Donna asks.

'I don't know Donna. We may have to go and get her and bring her back against her will. I'm not really sure how to swing this without giving away why we need her,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, well, all I know is that we have got to keep you off of the phone with her because that's just going to push her in the wrong direction,' Kelly says.

Brandon's phone vibrates as Kelly is talking. He looks down at the number displayed and back up at his friends.

'It must be Iris, it's Dylan's house number,' he says as he answers the phone.

'Hi Iris, is everything alright?' he asks her.

'Yes, yes, Brandon, everything is fine. I just wanted to let you know that I received a lovely call from Brenda last night,' she tells him.

'Oh, great, Brenda called you. What did she say?' he asks.

'Well, she was concerned about me and understands why I don't want to go to the doctor. I consulted my cards while I was talking to her and had a very good feeling about the phone call. She invited me to come and visit her, you know, before whatever this is kills me and I decided that I'm going to go,' Iris tells him.

'You're going to get on a plane and visit Brenda in London?' Brandon says and looks around at all of his friends. He sees the look of confusion on all of their faces.

'It's the right time, Brandon, the cards said so. I won't be gone for long, just in case Dylan decides to come back to town. I don't want to miss him or anything. If you see him, will you tell him where I am?' she asks him.

'Oh, um, sure I will,' Brandon answers, still confused.

'Okay, thank you,' Iris says and hangs up the phone. She hears the honk from the taxi and grabs her bag.

* * * * * *

'Bren, can I tell you something?' Dylan says, wringing his hands.

'Sure, Dylan,' she says.

'I'm nervous,' he says.

Brenda was getting ready to go and pick Iris up from the airport and Dylan was not dealing well with the fact that he just has to wait here for them to come back.

'Dylan, it's okay to be nervous. Everything will be just fine, you'll see. Iris would not have agreed to come out here unless she thought there was some kind of benefit to it. Just try to relax okay?' Brenda tries to reassure him.

She looks at her watch and gasps. 'Oh, I better go,' she says quickly.

'I guess, I'll be here then,' he says and slumps down on the couch.

Brenda laughs at him. 'Dylan, please find something to keep yourself occupied or you're going to drive yourself crazy,' she says and walks out of her apartment.

Brenda waits in the main area of the airport waiting for Iris to get off of the plane. She finally sees her coming down the concourse and smiles.

'Iris!' she yells loudly.

Iris looks in her direction and plasters a huge smile on her face. She quickens her pace and meets Brenda in a hug.

'Brenda, you look fabulous,' Iris says.

'Thanks, Iris. You actually look great. How do you feel?' Brenda asks and hooks her arm with Iris'.

'Actually I feel good right now. Maybe it's the altitude during the flight,' she says.

Brenda rolls her eyes a little bit and walks Iris out of the airport and to the train. They get off of the train a few blocks from Brenda's apartment and begin to walk down the street. She had been telling Iris of her adventures in London since she had arrived a few years ago.

'Wow, Brenda, you've certainly made a good life for yourself over here,' Iris says.

'I've tried, Iris, I really have. It was hard there for a while, but I kind of fell into a comfort and have been there ever since. Well, this is it,' she says, pointing to her apartment.

'Oh, I feel a good aura around this place, Brenda. It perfectly suits you. Everything about it,' she says.

'_I wonder if that means what's inside of it too.'_

'Well, shall we?' Brenda says as she opens the door and leads Iris inside. Iris walks in and puts her bag down by the door.

'Brenda, this is so cozy and very you. I was right. Everything about this apartment and the way you have everything arranged in here is perfect for you right now,' Iris says looking around her apartment.

'You sure about that, Mom?' Dylan says as he comes out from the back of the apartment.

_**Author's Note: In case you wanted to know what the poem says, here it is:**_

_When we two parted  
__In silence and tears,  
__Half broken-hearted  
__To sever for years,  
__Pale grew thy cheek and cold,  
__Colder thy kiss;  
__Truly that hour foretold  
__Sorrow to this. _

_The dew of the morning  
__Sunk chill on my brow--  
__It felt like the warning  
__Of what I feel now.  
__Thy vows are all broken,  
__And light is thy fame;  
__I hear thy name spoken,  
__And share in its shame. _

_They name thee before me,  
__A knell to mine ear;  
__A shrudder comes o'er me--  
__Why wert thou so dear?  
__They know not I knew thee,  
__Who knew thee so well--  
__Long, long I shall rue thee,  
__Too deeply to tell. _

_In secret we met--  
__In silence I grieve,  
__That thy heart could forget,  
__Thy spirit deceive  
__If I should meet thee  
__After long years,  
__How should I greet thee?--  
__With silence and tears._


	4. Chapter 4

**A Difficult Kind**** – Chapter 4**

Iris gasps and puts her hand up to her mouth as she sees her son walking toward her. She takes a step back toward Brenda.

'Oh my,' she says as if she's seeing a ghost. She puts her hand behind her back and feels for Brenda.

Brenda grabs her hand and holds it tight. 'Iris, he's real, it's okay. You're not seeing a ghost or anything, it really is Dylan,' she says.

Iris eases her death grip on Brenda's hand. Dylan walks up and stands in front of her. She puts her hand on the side of his face to make sure he was really standing there. He smiles at her and she puts her arms around her son.

'Dylan!' she says. She pulls back from the embrace and hits him on the arm.

'How could you disappear like that on me?' she says.

'I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I should have called you, but I just couldn't,' he says.

Iris turns around and looks at Brenda, who is staring at the floor. She turns back to look at Dylan.

'How long have you been here with Brenda?' she asks.

'Only two days,' he says. 'I spent the last few months just riding around the country and Mexico. I needed a place to hide out, to just relax, and not have to worry about anything, so I called Brenda and she offered to put me up for a while,' he explains to Iris as he looks at Brenda over her shoulder.

Brenda produces a small smile. Iris turns around and puts her arm around Brenda's shoulder.

'I had a good feeling about this visit, Brenda. I was reading the cards as you and I were talking and they told me to come here. I am so glad that I did,' she says.

'Me too, Iris,' she says. 'Why don't you have a seat and I'll make you some tea. You must be tired from your flight,' she says.

Iris and Dylan sit on the couch talking about how Iris has been feeling and why she came to look for him in the first place. Brenda puts the kettle on the stove and waits for it to heat up.

'Well, I have experienced fatigue and for some strange reason I've been throwing up recently,' she explains.

'You've lost some weight too, Mom,' Dylan says looking her over.

'Yeah, maybe,' she says. 'I try to eat, but sometimes I'm just not hungry.'

Brenda walks over with a tray and sets it down on the table in front of the couch. She pours Iris a cup of tea and hands it to her.

'Mom, look, I know you don't want to go and see a traditional doctor, and I'm totally okay with that, but what about a non-traditional doctor?' he suggests.

'Yeah, Iris, there are plenty of alternative medicine men here in London that you could even go and see. Some of them come highly recommended from a few of my theatre friends,' she says.

Iris looks over at Brenda and Dylan. 'You guys are so cute trying to convince me,' she says. Brenda and Dylan exchange a look and smile at each other.

'If I hate it, can we leave with no questions asked?' she asks them.

'Absolutely,' Dylan says. Iris smiles over at him.

'Dylan, please tell me that you are doing better now than you were when you left California. Your friends seemed really concerned about you when I talked to them,' Iris says with concern for her son.

'I'm doing much better, Mom. I'm sorry that you never go to spend time with Toni, I think you would have liked her,' Dylan says.

Iris nods at Dylan and puts her hand on his shoulder. 'I'm so proud of you for being strong, Dylan,' she tells him.

'Thanks, Mom,' he says.

* * * * * *

'I'm beginning to get the feeling that maybe this isn't such a good idea, you know, using Brenda as bait,' Donna says.

'What other choice to we have, Donna? It is the only thing that might bring Dylan to his senses and get him to high-tail it back here,' Valerie says.

'I know what the idea behind it is, but maybe we should just be truthful with her. She knows him a hell of a lot better than any of us. Maybe she has a better suggestion,' Donna says.

The gang mulls it over for a few minutes.

'Look, if she decides that she's not going to come back for Christmas, then we tell her, okay?' Kelly says. 'We only have to wait a few months and it's our best chance at this point of figuring out what the hell this stupid note means.'

Brandon continues to stare at the cryptic note that was left under the door at Casa Walsh. 'These symbols just don't make any sense. The only one I recognize is the Marchette family stamp. We really need Dylan here, maybe he's seen some of these before,' he says.

'Maybe we're in way over our heads, I mean, don't you think we should call the police or something? Or even that FBI agent that was working with Dylan's father?' Donna asks.

'Not yet, Donna, we just need some more information,' Kelly says.

* * * * *

'Iris, you promised, now come on, let's get going,' Brenda says to her. Iris is sitting on the couch pouting with her arms folded.

'Brenda, really, I feel much better now that I'm here with you guys. Maybe it was just a fluke or something,' she begins to say and then gags a little. She sits for a few seconds and then lurches forward and runs to the bathroom.

Brenda rolls her eyes and turns around to see Dylan leaning on the kitchen counter, with his arms folded across his chest, shaking his head.

'If only she believed in flukes,' Dylan says smiling.

'Wipe that smile off of your face, Mr. McKay, this isn't funny,' she says, pointing her finger at him.

'Sorry, Bren, I don't want to say I told you so, but,' he says with a smile.

'Damn it, Dylan, you said you would help me with this. She's your mother, why am I doing all the dirty work?'

'It was your idea to bring her out here,' Dylan reminds her.

'Look, would you have rather have told everyone back in LA where you were and put your tail between your legs to go back there to be with her? Hmmmm?' she throws back in his face.

'Oh, that's mean,' he says back to her.

'Now, come on and help me,' she says, walking over to him grabbing his arm and dragging him to the back of the house.

They had fallen into a groove with each other, since Dylan and Iris had now been staying with her for three weeks. Dylan was sleeping on the pull out couch, while Iris was sleeping in Brenda's spare bedroom.

Iris had called Brandon about a week after she had gotten to London to tell him that Brenda had convinced her to see an alternative medicine doctor here in London. She told him that they were not able to get her an appointment for two weeks, so that she would have to stay here at least until then. Not wanting to give away the fact that she had found Dylan, she dutifully asked if he had heard anything from Dylan, and when Brandon said that he hadn't, she almost laughed into the phone.

Dylan and Brenda had begun this conversational give and take, cat and mouse, kind of relationship. They had fallen into a rhythm that was always present when they were near each other for an extended period of time. Dylan was becoming more and more comfortable and was beginning to act kind of like himself over the last three weeks.

Dylan had been waking up in the middle of the night almost every night in cold sweats. He could not get the nightmares to stop, until one night, the nightmare changed.

_Flashback_

_He woke up that night in a cold sweat, like he was prone to do, but this time he had a smile on his face. He tried to remember right away what he was dreaming about, knowing full well that for once, it wasn't Toni. He saw images of waves crashing, fishing poles, and Brenda's face staring up at him._

_Brenda wakes up immediately when she hears Dylan gasp out loud. She had almost gotten used to him waking up in the middle of the night, but it still shocked her a little. She begins her nightly routine of putting her robe and slippers on and walking out to the kitchen with her eyes half closed to fill a glass with water. She brings it over to where Dylan is sitting up and puts it on the table next to the couch._

'_Same as last time?' she whispers to him._

_He turns his head to look at her and she opens her eyes a little bit more when she sees a smile on his face._

'_No,' he reveals, 'it wasn't.'_

_He immediately puts his arms around her and squeezes her body. She wraps her arms quickly around his chest. With Dylan not wearing a shirt, she feels the warmth of his skin under her fingers and the beating of his heart against her chest._

'_That's great, Dylan,' she says when he finally lets her go. 'I'm so happy for you.'_

'_Yeah,' he says, almost looking refreshed. He reaches over and grabs the glass of water that she had brought with her. He drinks the entire thing in a few sips._

_She can't help but smile at his apparent enthusiasm and happiness that he didn't have the same dream that he had been having for the past few months._

'_Goodnight, Dylan,' she says and starts to get up. He grabs her hand and pulls her back down._

'_Brenda,' he starts. She looks back down at him and sees that he could possibly be burning a whole through her head with the look that he is giving her. She feels her heart beat get faster and faster the longer she stares at him._

'_Stay with me for a few minutes,' he says. 'Please?'_

_He squeezes her hand and hears her try to get over a hitch in her breathing. 'Please, just for a few minutes?' he asks her again._

_Brenda looks at the ground and then back up at him. She thinks, 'How can I possibly say no to him at this point?'_

'_Okay, a few minutes,' she says to him and climbs onto the bed next to him._

_He turns his body toward her as she puts her arm around his shoulder. He leans his head on her shoulder and she begins to rub his upper arm trying to get him to go to sleep so that she could return to her bed. He snakes his arm around her back and the other arm around her waist and holds on._

_She tries to regulate her breathing and her heartbeat as she feels him inching closer and closer to her. Brenda thinks to herself, 'Oh, God, this is not happening. This is not happening. Calm down, Brenda, just calm down. Use your breathing technique you learned in acting class. Oh, God, he feels so good.'_

_Dylan holds onto her and just being near her and feeling her arm around him calms him down enough to fall peacefully to sleep. He had drifted off so completely that he didn't notice at all when she got up and returned to her bed._

_He wakes up gripping one of the pillows and a handful of the blanket._

Present Day

'Iris, are you okay? Do you need anything?' Brenda says to the closed bathroom door. Dylan comes out of his reverie and walks up to stand behind her. He focuses on the back of her head as she tries to get Iris to come out of the bathroom.

'No, no, I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute,' they hear. Brenda turns around and bumps right into Dylan.

'Sorry,' she says, 'I didn't realize you were that close.'

'It's okay,' he says, staring down at her. She meets his gaze for a few seconds and then walks around him to the kitchen.

They had not spoken about the night she had spent with him in bed and the fact that she waited until he fell asleep and then left him there by himself. Brenda had noticed a little bit of tension between them, but not a whole lot. She knows that they will eventually have to broach the subject, but right now they had Iris to worry about.

He follows her with his eyes until she disappears around the corner. _'Damn!'_

Iris finally opens the door. Dylan puts his hand under her forearm to keep her steady as they walk back out to the living room.

'Mom, please, you need to go and see this guy, okay? Please?' he begs her.

She turns her head slightly to look at him and nods her head.

'Bren?' Brenda looks over at them from the kitchen. She brings Iris a towel and a glass of water.

'I'll get your bag and then we can go, okay?' she says. She picks up Iris' bag and her keys and walks out to hail a taxi.

Dylan slowly walks his mother out of Brenda's apartment and down to the street. A taxi stops and they put Iris inside. They both pile into the back and Brenda directs the taxi driver to the doctor's office.

Brenda and Dylan walk Iris into the doctor's office. The waiting room was filled with comfortable lounge chairs and magazines on alternative medicine. The walls were draped with beads and see through silk fabric. Brenda and Dylan exchange a look and a smile behind Iris' back.

Iris immediately opens her mouth and closes her eyes when she enters the office. Brenda waits hesitantly to see if Iris would approve of this office.

'Okay,' she says and looks at Dylan. He nods and they walk her up to the counter.

'Iris, do you want us to come back there with you?' Brenda asks as they are waiting for Iris to be called back to see the doctor.

'No, I don't, it's bad for my aura,' she says.

Dylan laughs a little, but quickly covers it with a cough. 'Mom, you have to promise me something,' he starts. She turns to look at him.

'Promise me that you are going to tell him everything, you can't leave anything out no matter how insignificant you might think it is, okay? Even the fact that you threw up right before we came here,' he warns her.

'Okay, Dylan, I promise, there's nothing to worry about. I feel good about this place,' she says and pats him on the back.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Difficult Kind – Chapter 5**

Dylan and Brenda wait for Iris to come out. Brenda looks over at Dylan and sees that he chewing on his fingers. She puts her hand on his arm trying to alert him to the fact that he might chew his finger off if he doesn't stop.

'How long do you think this is going to take, Bren,' he says.

'I don't know, Dylan. I guess it depends on what she tells him and what kind of doctor he really is,' she says.

He sighs loudly and crosses his arms. He begins to shake his leg incessantly as he becomes more and more nervous with every second that goes by.

'Dylan, you are driving me crazy. You need to calm down a little bit,' she says. 'Iris is going to be fine.'

A woman peeks her head out from behind one of the doors. 'Dylan?' she says to him.

He nods his head at her and stands up. 'The doctor and Mrs. McKay would like you to join them,' the woman says.

Dylan looks over at Brenda and she waves her hand for him to go through the door.

He follows the woman down a narrow hallway to an open area. There is relaxing, meditation-type music playing and behind another set of hanging beads sits his mother on a traditional looking doctor's table. He looks around the room and sees the same satin type pieces of fabric hanging on the walls and pictures of streams and flowers hanging.

He almost expects the doctor to be in a Sherlock Holmes smoking jacket with a joint in his hand, but the doctor is wearing a long white flowing coat, over white linen-like pants, with sandals on his feet.

'You must be Dylan,' he says softly and evenly.

'Uh, yeah,' Dylan says tentatively.

'Iris has told me a lot about you. I'm Dr. Weber,' he says and holds his hand out for Dylan to shake.

'Great, so what's going on with my mother?' he asks the doctor. He stands next to Iris, who hasn't said anything since he walked in the room. She looks at him and smiles slightly.

'Well, your mother definitely has been feeling some strange symptoms that may or may not be life threatening. We took some blood and fluid samples and are running several tests on those to see if maybe we can figure out why she is feeling badly,' Dr. Weber explains.

'Okay, when will that be done?' Dylan asks him.

'Within the next few days all of the results will be back and then we can decide what the proper diagnosis is and maybe find something to make Iris feel better. It's all very routine,' he says.

'Okay, so what do we do until then?' Dylan asks.

The doctor hands Iris of what looks like dried tea leaves to Dylan.

'Iris, allow these to smoke while you are meditating and take deep breaths, slowly. This should calm your body down enough to help with the vomiting and hold you steady until we can get your test results back, okay?' the doctor explains.

Iris nods her head and says, 'Thank you, Dr. Weber.' She gets off of the table and grabs her bag and Dylan's arm.

'Make sure the receptionist has a number where we can reach you, okay? We'll call you in a few days,' he says.

Brenda stands when she sees Dylan and Iris come out of the door.

'Hey, Bren, make sure they have your number, okay? They're going to call with Mom's test results,' Dylan says. 'We'll meet you on the street.'

Brenda nods and goes to the receptionist to confirm that Iris gave her the right number. She walks out to see that Dylan and Iris are waiting in a taxi for her and gets in.

'So, how was the doctor, Iris?'

'He was a very nice man. See what he gave me?' Iris hands Brenda the bag.

Brenda looks at the contents with an uncertain look on her face. She opens the bag and smells what's inside.

Dylan looks at her with a disgusted look on his face and says, 'What does it smell like?'

Brenda thinks about the smell for a few seconds. 'Um, lavender mostly with a little bit of cinnamon, I think?' she says and hands the bag back to Iris.

Iris puts her nose in the bag and nods her head, 'Very good, Brenda, very good.'

'Yeah, very good, Brenda,' Dylan mocks her.

Brenda playfully hits him in the arm and opens the taxi door as they pull up to her apartment.

Iris walks directly to the bathroom. 'I'm going to take a hot bath and then meditate for a while, okay guys?' she says.

Dylan and Brenda nod at her and then look at each other and smile.

'What was the doctor like?' Brenda asks him, eagerly.

'Well, it was weird. The walls were still covered in that satiny crap, but there was an actual doctor's table back there and he was wearing all white,' Dylan tells her. 'Okay, it was probably made out of recycled pot plants or something, but at least it was white, right?'

Brenda laughs at his description of the doctor.

'He may look a little alternative on the outside, but he took blood and fluid samples to run a bunch of tests, so maybe he just does it to calm his patients down,' Dylan explains.

'Well, he is an M.D. Maybe you're right, he appears alternative, but uses modern medicine to diagnose. Let's hope that's the case, because I would hate to have her diagnosed with something weird and unpronounceable,' Brenda says.

'Tell me about it,' he says.

'Okay, now that that's over with, I really have to concentrate on my script so that I don't screw up in rehearsal tomorrow. Can you keep yourself busy for a while, or do I need to find something for you to meditate with too?' she teases him and takes a step back from where she is standing.

He lunges after her and she quickly dodges him, while laughing, and begin to run around the apartment.

'Oh, you're going to get it, Walsh,' he says. He chases her playfully around the kitchen and over to the couch in the living room. She's laughing too hard to run any further and collapses on the couch with him on top of her.

They laugh for a few minutes while hugging each other. Dylan slowly rolls over on to the other side of the couch. He reaches over to the table for Brenda's script and hands it to her.

'Thank you,' she says with a smile. She gets up and walks to her bedroom and shuts the door.

Dylan sighs after she disappears.

* * * * *

'Brandon, we got another note, get here as quickly as you can,' Kelly says into the phone and hangs up.

'I don't understand. Why would the Marchette family be putting notes under Brandon's door? I mean, did they even know Brandon? Have we even thought about that?' Steve says.

'That is a puzzler, Steve. I'm not sure how they connected Brandon with Dylan, but it wouldn't be that hard, I mean, they were always hanging to together and he was Dylan's best man,' Kelly says.

'I guess, but it's still a little weird,' he says.

The gang had taken to meeting up at Casa Walsh every night to discuss the plan further.

'Does this one have the same symbols as the last one?' Donna asks, retrieving the first note.

Kelly and Donna sit at the table comparing the two.

'The only one that's the same is the one Brandon said was the Marchette family stamp,' Kelly says.

'How did he figure that out?' Valerie asks.

'When Toni was murdered, they put a picture of it in the paper,' Donna says. 'Maybe we should look at the article for clues.'

'That's a good idea. I'm going to go to the library tomorrow and dig up whatever I can on her family. Maybe they've done this sort of thing before,' he says.

'Good thinking Steve,' Kelly says.

The door opens and Brandon comes walking in. He goes to the kitchen where he knows the rest of the gang is waiting for him.

'Sorry I'm late, I got tied up. What's going on?'

'When we came in earlier, there was another note on the floor,' Kelly says, handing it to Brandon.

'The only symbol that matches is the Marchette one,' she tells him.

'Damn! How the hell are we supposed to figure out what they want if they keep putting these stupid things in code,' Brandon says, frustrated.

'We've got to do some more research on the Marchette family. Steve's right, maybe there is something hidden in their history that would help us figure this out,' Donna says.

'Yeah, you're probably right. Well, that's our new mission, then. Has anyone heard from Brenda yet?' Brandon asks them.

He sees them all shaking their heads. 'Well, Iris hasn't come back yet either. I know she said that she couldn't get an appointment until sometime this week, but maybe we need to check up on her,' Brandon suggests.

'If that's what you want to do, then fine, but you are not going to be the one to call her,' Kelly says.

'Maybe you should do it, Donna,' Brandon suggests.

'Me? Wouldn't it be weird for me to be checking up on Iris?' she says.

'Not just checking up on Iris, but feeling the waters out with Brenda to see if she's decided to come back,' Brandon says.

'Oh, yeah, right, okay,' Donna says. 'Well, what time is it over there?'

'It's about 6pm right now, so about 2 in the morning over there,' Steve says. 'You'll have to wait until tomorrow to call.'

'Okay, will someone remind me?' Donna asks.

'Yeah, I will,' Kelly says.

* * * * *

Dylan had finally fallen asleep after reading more from the poetry book that he had given Brenda all those years ago. He begins to dream again about Toni. He sees her smiling at him, kissing him, in her wedding dress looking so beautiful.

He tries to concentrate on those images of her and the relaxing, calming feeling that seems to have taken him over. The images go dark and he begins to breathe faster and faster, like his body knows what's about to happen.

Instead of seeing the car and the rain and her lifeless body in his arms, he sees the hotel room and Brenda in her spring dance dress smiling at him. He sees Brenda lying next to him holding his hand at the Red Cross on Valentine's Day. He sees Brenda dancing with him in Baja. The images fade again and he sees Toni again in her wedding dress talking to him. Her lips are moving, but he can't hear what she's saying. He tries to get closer to her, but can't seem to move and then she fades into the darkness.

His eyes spring open and he sits up, breathing heavily. He looks around the room almost expecting to see Toni standing in front of him in her dress. It takes him a few minutes, but he realizes where he is and that she's not really here.

He gets up and goes to the kitchen for a glass of water. He stands in the kitchen drinking it, when he hears a door open down the hall.

'Dylan, are you okay?' he hears.

He lets out a deep breath and continues drinking. He sees Brenda come around the corner in her robe and slippers, like she does every night when she hears him wake up in the middle of the night.

With tears in his eyes, he puts the glass down. 'I don't know, Bren, I just don't know,' he says.

She walks over to where he is standing and puts her arms around him. He holds onto her tightly and cries softly into her shoulder.

'It's going to be okay, Dylan. You're going to get through this. You'll see,' she says.

He continues to cry while holding onto her and neither one of them realize that Iris is standing in the darkness watching them with a smile on her face.

She goes back to her room and pulls out her tarot card deck. She begins flipping them over in sequence and looking at them and nodding as they fall on top of one another.

'It's almost time,' she says to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Difficult Kind – Chapter 6**

Brenda finishes with her rehearsal and packs up her bag.

'Okay, folks, only one more week until we go live. You guys are doing a great job and this show is going to knock some socks off. Good job and I'll see you all tomorrow for tech rehearsal,' the director says.

Brenda lets out a sigh of relief. She loves the tech rehearsals right before a show. That's when they get to try on all of the costumes for the last time and finish focusing the lights and getting the set pieces and scene changes right.

She loves it because she doesn't have to think about anything. She just has to stand around and work on the changes throughout the show without having to run her lines.

She opens the door to her apartment and is welcomed by an incredible smell of cooking food.

'What is going on in here?' she asks. She sees Dylan setting the table and Iris in the kitchen with an apron on cooking.

'We thought it would be a nice change to have a completely home cooked meal waiting for you when you got home,' Iris says.

'Well, it's very nice, thank you,' Brenda says. 'It smells delicious. I don't think my apartment has ever smelled this good.'

'I know it's a little early for dinner, but I know that you're going out tonight with some of your friends, so I thought we do it early so that you could get ready,' Iris says.

'That's very thoughtful of you. Dylan, have you decided if you're going to come with me or not?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan looks over at Iris and then back at Brenda.

'Dylan, please, I'm fine. I haven't thrown up since before we went to the doctor's office. I'm fine,' Iris says. 'Go, have a good time.'

'Oh, did the doctor call today?' Brenda asks.

'He did, but they're not done running the tests yet. He said it would be another day or two before he'd have anything to look at,' Iris tells her.

'I guess I'll go with you then,' Dylan says with a smile, 'since Mom seems to think she can take care of herself.'

'I can take care of myself. It's about time you left this apartment, Dylan,' she says.

'Bren, you have to promise me something, though,' Dylan says walking over to where she is standing.

'What?' she says.

'If you want to have a drink, please, do it. I'm a big boy and I can handle it,' he says.

'What if I can't handle it?' she says.

'You can and you know it,' he says.

'Okay, fine, we'll see.'

'Well, let's eat so you guys can get ready to paint the town red,' Iris says, bring the platter of food she had prepared to the table.

* * * * *

Brenda comes out of her bedroom ready to go out with her friends. She had been neglecting them for the better part of a month, since she was spending all of her time at rehearsal or with Dylan and Iris.

'Brenda, you look gorgeous,' Iris says, looking Brenda up and down. She is wearing a black lace corset top with a short skirt and knee-high Dr. Martens. Brenda spins herself turns around at Iris' request.

'Just beautiful, and I love your boots,' Iris says.

'Thank you, Iris. Dylan? Are you ready yet?' Brenda yells toward the back of the apartment.

'In a minute,' he yells back.

She stands near the front door waiting for him to come out.

He finally opens the bathroom door and walks out.

'I can't believe that I'm actually standing here waiting for you to be ready,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Neither can I, are you sure there's nothing you need to touch up or anything?' he asks.

'Be safe, have fun, and don't worry about me okay?' Iris says. Dylan gives her a hug and tells her to call Brenda's phone if she needs anything at all.

They walk out of the apartment and down the street. Dylan watches Brenda walk slightly ahead of him and is almost mesmerized by her movements.

They walk a few blocks to Covent Garden and enter one of the bars.

'Do mine eyes deceive me?' Brent says.

'Brenda, you made it! Glad you decided to finally leave your house and join us,' Wyatt tells her.

'Well, I figured I could only ignore you guys for so long and then you might get angry and start throwing things at my house,' she says with a smile. She hugs her friends and sits down at the table with Dylan.

'You guys remember Dylan, right?' she says.

'Oh, yeah, hi Dylan, didn't know you were still around,' Beau says.

'Well, I am,' Dylan says firmly and stares at him until he looks away.

Beau sits down at the table across from Brenda and Dylan. Brenda is talking with Paige about how rehearsals are going and how she's going to be really happy when this show finally goes up.

'So, a few more days, right Bren?' Wyatt asks.

'Yeah, opening night is Friday,' she tells him.

'Think you could score us some tickets for Saturday?' Brent asks.

'I might be able to arrange that,' she says with a smile. 'I'll be right back, Dylan do you want something?'

'Um, let me come with you,' he says and gets up.

They walk over to the bar and wait for the bartender to notice them.

'Your friends seem like they really care about you. That must be nice to have around,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. 'It is and it isn't. Sometimes they care too much and can't understand why I need to be alone sometimes,' she says.

'It's good that you have them, Bren,' he says and hails the bartender over.

'I'll just have water,' he says and then looks over at Brenda.

'Bren, it's good to see you. The usual?' he says.

Brenda looks at Dylan and sees him nod his head. 'Yeah, Dave, that would be great, thanks,' she says.

'Okay, Dylan, well, I just hope you know that I'm not entirely comfortable with this,' she says.

Dylan laughs at her and looks back over to the table where her friends are watching them. He catches Beau's eye and lingers for a few seconds before looking back over at Brenda.

'Well, they look cozy, don't they,' Paige says looking over at Brenda laughing and smiling with Dylan.

'Why do you think she hasn't left the house in over a month, I mean, damn,' Brent says.

Paige starts to laugh and playfully hits Beau in the shoulder, trying to get him to join in.

'That's not funny,' he says.

'Beau, come on man, just because you were too pussy to hit that doesn't mean you should be pissed off that someone else has,' Wyatt says.

'Let her be happy for once, man, and just leave them alone,' Brent says.

'Yeah, right,' Beau says, defeated.

'Look man, you had your chance, plenty of times to tell her how you really feel. You can't blame her for you not saying anything,' Wyatt says.

Brenda and Dylan come back to the table with their drinks.

'Okay, so what are we playing tonight?' Brenda says and takes a sip of her beer.

'There's a great DJ coming in tonight, so I'm thinking it's time for name that tune,' Paige says.

'You're on,' Wyatt says.

* * * * *

Donna dials the number Brandon gave her again. She had been trying to reach Brenda for the better part of an hour, but she wasn't picking up her phone.

'What do I do, keep calling?' Donna asks Kelly.

'Just leave a message, Donna. It's no use calling her a hundred times,' Kelly says.

'Okay,' Donna says and dials again.

'Hello!?!' she hears someone yell into the phone.

'Brenda?' she says loudly. She hears music and chatter going on in the background.

'Yes?'

'It's Donna!' Donna yells again.

'Donna? Oh, my God! Wait just one second,' she hears Brenda say.

Brenda looks over at Dylan with widened eyes.

'What?' he asks her.

Brenda covers the phone with her hand and leans in close so that Dylan can hear her. 'It's Donna, I'm going to go outside so that I can hear her.'

Dylan nods and follows her outside.

'Donna? Can you hear me?' Brenda says.

'Yeah, I can hear you now. How are you doing and where are you?' Donna asks her.

'Oh, I'm just out at a pub with some friends,' Brenda tells her. 'What's going on?'

'I just wanted to see how you were and was wondering if you've given any more thought to coming back for Christmas. I really miss you and so does everyone else,' Donna says tentatively.

Brenda sighs loudly into the phone and looks over at Dylan.

'I haven't thought it about it Donna. My show opens this week, so I really haven't been thinking about anything else,' she says.

'Oh, that's okay. I was just wondering. I heard that Iris came to see you. How's that going?' she asks.

'Iris is okay. She's seeing one of the doctor's here and we're just waiting to see what he comes up with,' Brenda tells Donna.

Staring straight into Dylan's face she smiles and says into the phone, 'Has anyone heard from Dylan yet?'

She sees him smile and start to laugh with his hand over his mouth.

'No, not yet,' Donna says sadly. 'I really hope he comes back soon. I'd be really mad if my mother was sick and I didn't know about it.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, keep me posted. I'll call you after the show closes and we can talk some more, okay?' Brenda says.

'Okay, Bren. It's really great to hear your voice,' Donna says.

'You too, Donna. I better go,' she says. 'Say hi to everyone for me. Bye.'

'Bye.'

Brenda hangs up the phone and lets out a deep breath and starts to laugh.

'Good acting Ms. Walsh,' Dylan says and gives her a hug.

'Thanks, Dylan. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years,' she says with a smile.

'What else was Donna talking about? What haven't you had time to think about?' he asks her.

Brenda wrinkles up her face and says, 'Can we talk about that later? I'm having such a good time and I don't want to get bummed out.'

'Okay, but you still haven't told me what happened between you and Brandon, so now that's two you owe me,' he says.

'Oh, keeping score are we?' she says pointedly.

'You bet your ass,' he says.

'Well, I haven't yet, but a few more beers and I might,' she flirts with him. She turns on her heel and goes back into the bar.

Brenda walks quickly into the bar. _'Oh, my God, I can't believe I just said that to him.'_

Dylan stands dumbfounded at her retreating form. _'Guess I'll just have to work a bit harder to get her to tell me these secrets she doesn't seem to want to talk about.'_

Dylan walks back into the bar and sees that Brenda is almost done with her third beer. He buys her another one and walks back over to the table.

'Trying to get me drunk, McKay?' she glares at him.

'Wouldn't dream of it,' he flirts back.

She stares at him for a few seconds before taking a swig.

'Oh, it's 'Come on Eileen'!' Paige yells.

'Damn, you're quick,' Wyatt says.

'Okay, that's three in a row for me. Time for a shot!' Paige says.

'Okay, what are we doing this time?' Brent asks.

'Oh, tequila, all the way baby. Read 'em and weep,' she says and goes up to the bar.

'It's never good when she's on a roll. We'll be doing shots all freaking night,' Brent says and laughs.

They all join in as Paige comes back to the table with shots for all of them.

'Toasting to?' Beau says and holds up his shot.

'Wait, wait, I need salt,' Brenda says.

Dylan sees an opportunity and grabs the salt shaker in front him and holds it up in front of her face. She smirks at him and narrows her eyes.

'What are you up to?' she says. He raises his eyebrows at her and bites the inside of his lip. He cocks his head to side and points to his neck.

'Oh, yeah, body shot. Do it Brenda, do it,' Brent eggs her on.

Brenda sits at the table looking at her friends with her mouth wide open. They all begin clapping and chanting for her to do it.

She looks back over at Dylan who is waiting for her to make her move and notices that half the bar is now looking over at their table.

She closes her mouth, looks over at her friends again, and then leans in and licks Dylan's neck.

He puts salt on the spot where she had licked him and smiles seductively at her.

'Okay, toast,' she says slowly.

'To Brenda's excellent performance this weekend and to friends we just met and friends we will never forget,' Paige says.

'Hazzah!' Wyatt says.

'Hazzah!' they all repeat and lick the salt from their hands. Brenda leans over and takes her time licking salt off of Dylan's neck. He almost jumps at the sensation of her lips on his skin, but restrains himself enough to not move while she is doing it.

She leans back and downs her shot and slams her glass on the table. She slowly picks up the wedge of lemon and puts it in her mouth while staring directly at Dylan.

'Oh, that's unfair,' he says under his breath.

'You started it,' she says back.

'Okay, I don't know about you guys, but I need a cold shower,' Wyatt says to break the tension.

They all look at him and start laughing. Brenda throws her lemon wedge at him. Beau looks down at the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A Difficult Kind**_** – Chapter 7**

They spend the next hour drinking, laughing, telling stories, and doing shots. Each time Dylan changes the location of where the salt is on his body and tries to get to the point where Brenda might say no. She doesn't, but keeps up with him and every time she licks the salt from his body a jolt runs up Dylan's spine.

'Okay, last one guys and then I have to go,' Paige says and hands the salt shaker to Dylan. They all stare directly at Dylan to see where he's going to put it this time.

Brenda stares at him trying to figure out where else he could possibly put it that he hasn't already. She doesn't think he'll be able to out do the last one, but waits to see what he has up his sleeve. She knows that he's testing her to see what her limits might be when it comes to him, but she was determined not to let him win this battle and being drunk already gave her a boost to her confidence and her defiance.

He pours some salt into his hand, licks his lips, and covers them with salt. He stares almost through Brenda, tempting her to refuse to take the shot. As much as she was enjoying the fact that they were hanging out and having fun again, she immediately feels her chest tighten.

'Oh, this is going to be good,' Brent says.

'Yeah, make it hot and steamy. Give me something to take back home with me,' Wyatt says.

'Wyatt!' Paige says and hits him on the arm.

Brenda thinks about it for a second and then looks over at Wyatt and winks at him. 'Steamy, huh?' she says and turns her head back over to stare at Dylan.

Dylan opens his eyes wide and almost can't believe that she's actually going to do it.

'To living through this night and only needing one pair of underwear,' Paige says breathless.

'Haz-zah!' Wyatt says slowly.

'You asked for it,' she says directly to Dylan. She leans over, grabs the back of his head with both of her hands and proceeds to lick and nibble the salt off of his lips slowly.

Dylan tries as hard as he can not to grab her while she is playing with him. He begins to think that maybe this wasn't such a good idea as he feels himself respond to her touch. He tightens his grip around his own thigh and tries not to bite down on her lip.

'Oh, my God, I'm going to lose it right here,' Brent whispers to Wyatt.

'You and me both, man. Damn, that's hot,' he says.

Brenda finally licks all of the salt off of Dylan's lips and finishes by running her tongue between Dylan's lip and his teeth. She picks up the shot with one hand without looking away from him. She lingers for a second and then pulls away from Dylan and downs it.

'I think it's time we got out of here,' Beau says as he stands up and turns around toward the door.

'Yeah, time to go,' Paige says quickly. They all get up awkwardly from the table and walk out onto the street.

'You guys okay to get home?' Brent asks Brenda and Dylan.

'Yeah, we're fine, thanks,' Dylan says. He holds onto Brenda's arm as she sways back and forth.

'Goodnight,' Brenda says to her friends and follows Dylan down the street.

'Bren, you alright?' Dylan says looking at her.

'Never better, Dylan, never better,' she says. She stops and looks up at him. She stares for a few seconds and then slowly smiles. 'You didn't think I was going to do that did you?' she asks him.

He looks down at her. Her pupils were dilated and her cheeks were a beautiful shade of red.

'No, I really didn't, but now I know,' he says and begins to walk again.

'Know what?' she asks following him.

'Now I know that four beers and three shots of Tequila makes Brenda very friendly,' he says with a smile.

'Shut up,' she says with a pout, 'I'm always friendly.'

Dylan laughs at her. 'Oh, I definitely like drunk Brenda. This is going to be so much fun,' he says as he wraps his arm tightly around her while they walk back to her apartment.

They finally make it to the apartment and slowly walk inside. The lights are off, save for the hallway light.

'Come on, Bren,' he says and helps her to her bedroom.

He flops her down on the bed and begins to untie her boots.

'You couldn't have worn regular shoes, huh?' he says.

'Nope, these look better with my outfit,' she says.

'You're right, they do,' he laughs at her. He finally gets her boots off and lays her down on her pillow.

'Do you want to change or do you want to sleep in your clothes?' he asks her.

'I think I'll sleep in my clothes. Nothing like waking up in the same clothes you passed out in,' she says with a drunken smile.

'Okay, but you are going to drink some water before you pass out or you are going to have one monster headache tomorrow.'

Dylan leaves her room and gets her a large glass of water. Brenda watches him turn around and walk away and starts to smile. She catches herself grinning like a school girl and tries as hard as she can to shake it off.

'It's just the alcohol, Brenda, now get it together!' she says to herself. She decides that sleeping in her clothes might not be a good idea after all and starts to undress, forgetting for a few seconds that Dylan was coming back.

When he gets to the door he sees that Brenda has already taken her skirt off and is half-way under the covers.

'Oh, man,' he whispers to himself, looking at her half-naked body. He hesitates a little and then takes deep breath before walking back into her room. He sits down on the edge of her bed.

'Bren, you have to drink this. Sit up a little, okay,' he says and grabs her hand and tries to pull her to a semi-sitting position.

'Okay,' she sing-songs at him with her eyes closed.

'Bren, you have to open your eyes to do this,' he says. She slowly opens her eyes and he picks up her hand and puts it around the glass.

It takes her a good ten minutes, but she manages to drink the entire glass of water.

He takes her hand and lays her back down on the bed. He pulls the covers up over her body and goes to get up.

'Dylan?' she says.

He closes his eyes, lets out a breath, and without turning around says, 'Yeah?'

'Didn't you want me to tell you a story?' she asks him playfully, slurring ever so slightly.

'Now?' he asks her, turning around. 'I don't know if now such a good time for a story,' he says.

'Come on, you want to hear the story, don't you?' she says holding her hand out to him. 'Come lay with me while I tell you this story.'

Dylan stands in silence for a few seconds trying to decide what to do. He looks at her and takes in the beautiful body with the beckoning hand in front of him.

'Okay, Bren,' he says. He takes his shoes off and climbs into bed with her. She puts her head on his chest and her hand across it.

'So, tell me a story,' he says while rubbing her arm with his hand.

'Well, when Brandon called the first time and told me about Iris, he also asked me something else,' she tells him.

'What did he ask you?'

'He asked me to come home for Christmas.'

'Christmas?' Dylan asks, confused. 'Bren, you haven't been back for Christmas since you left.'

'I know, I thought it was weird too,' she says.

'That's what Donna was asking when I told her I hadn't thought about it. She was asking whether or not I had decided to come home,' she says.

'What's the big deal? Why would they want you to come home now? Has anyone, besides your mom, ever asked you to come back for Christmas?' he asks her.

Brenda lets out a loud sigh. 'No.'

'Well, I can see how that would take you by surprise,' he says.

'Yeah, it did,' she says drifting off.

'Are you going to tell me about Brandon now or do I have to wait until you sober up?' Dylan says.

'Later, Dylan, I don't think I could handle that conversation considering that I'm pretty drunk and kind of tired,' she says.

She cuddles closer to him. 'Dylan?'

'Yeah?'

'Would you do me a favor?'

'What's that?'

'Stay with me,' she says.

'Stay with you?'

'I'm sorry for not staying with you that night. I was scared,' she says to him.

'What were you scared of? Me?' he asks her.

'This,' she says and picks her head up a little to look at him. He looks into her beautiful eyes and his entire body tingles at every place she is touching him. She shifts her leg to rest on top of his and puts her hand around his chest.

He searches her eyes for some kind of sign that this is what she wants. He's not sure what he sees staring back at him, but realizes that she is way too drunk to be really serious about anything.

'I'm not scared of it now, but I think that has something to do with tequila and beer,' she says.

Dylan laughs at her and kisses the top of her head.

'It's okay, Bren,' he says.

'No, it's not okay. I really am sorry. You needed me and I left you out there all alone and I shouldn't have,' she says. 'I just didn't know what to do. Don't leave me all alone, okay?'

He strokes her hair with his hand and pulls her closer to him. 'Okay, Bren, I won't. I won't leave you all alone, okay?'

'Okay,' she says.

Dylan holds onto her tightly as he feels her drift off to sleep. He almost reluctantly closes his eyes. He doesn't want to forget this moment with her and he tries as hard as he can to stay awake. He looks down at her and smiles at the sight of Brenda back in his arms. He tries to keep his eyes open so that he can look at her but they slowly become so heavy that he can't keep them open any longer.

The images begin flowing in his head, just like they do every night. He watches them float by and wonders whether or not he will be able to avoid the scene where he's holding Toni's lifeless body in his arms.

He tries to focus on her walking up to him in her beautiful wedding dress with her flowers and veil. He sees her face turn and she smiles brightly at him. Her mouth begins to move, and he thinks that he can hear something, but can't quite make out what she's saying. He tries to call out to her, but does not even hear his own voice.

Toni smiles at him again and then continues to speak. He strains to hear anything at all. The image begins to fade and he finally hears, 'Dylan, wake up,' in Toni's soft voice.

'Dylan, wake up,' he hears again, but his mind seems to have melded Toni's voice with Brenda's.

'Dylan, wake up,' Brenda says louder. He finally opens his eyes and stares at her as if she's not really there.

'Bren?' he says confused.

'Dylan, are you alright?' she asks him.

He looks around the room and realizes that not only is he not on the pull out couch, but that Brenda is sitting up and leaning over him in nothing but a corset and underwear.

'Dylan, say something, please,' she begs him.

'Your not going to puke on me, are you?' he says with a smile.

She play hits him in the chest. 'Dylan, you scared me. Now is not the time to be joking around,' she says and flops back down on the bed.

'Bren, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself,' he says looking over at her. She had not pulled the covers back up and he can't help but stare at the sliver of skin between where the corset ends and her underwear begins. He breathes in sharply and closes his eyes.

She turns her head slowly to look at him. 'Are you sure you're alright?' she asks him again.

'Yeah, I think so. I've just been having some really strange dreams,' he says. 'I'm sure it's nothing.'

'Do you want to talk about it?' she says.

Dylan shakes his head at her.

'Well, let's make a deal then,' Brenda says.

'What deal?' he says suspiciously.

'I'll tell you about Brandon and then you talk to me about these nightmares you've been having,' she says.

'They're not nightmares, Bren,' he says.

'Dylan, anything that wakes you up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and causes you to gasp loudly is a nightmare,' she says.

He looks at the defiant look on her face and knows that he will not be able to get around her stubbornness tonight.

'Okay, Bren, fine, let's do it. This way we both get to talk about something we don't really want to, which will lead to both of us being extremely uncomfortable,' he says mockingly.

'Fine, Dylan, make fun of me all you want. I'll just keep my mouth shut,' she says and closes her mouth dramatically.

'You're not going to be able to do that, Bren, and you know it,' he says.

She looks over at him with her mouth clenched tightly shut.

Dylan laughs at her. 'Okay, fine, we'll see how long this lasts,' he says.

She turns on her side away from him and pulls the covers up over her body. She can hear him laughing at her and can't help but smile a little herself.

They drift off to sleep again and don't wake until they hear the whistle of the tea kettle.

Brenda tries hard to open her eyes and when she finally gets them open she realizes that at some point she must have rolled back over. She had her head on Dylan's chest and her leg strategically placed in between his legs. He had one arm wrapped tightly around her back and the other resting on her knee.

Brenda smiles to herself, realizing how comfortable she is at this particular moment. She tries to not move at all and just enjoy this feeling. She closes her eyes and tries to store this feeling of being wrapped up with Dylan in her brain before it's gone. She opens her eyes as she feels him shifting a little. He tightens his grip around her body and tries to pull her closer to him. She lets him move her and feels his lips on her forehead as he turns his body to face hers.

She begins to feel her body responding to his touch and wants so badly to kiss him again and be able to lay here with him here forever. She immediately curses herself for thinking about it and decides that if she doesn't get up now, she may do something she'll regret later.

She shifts her weight and pulls back from him. She lifts her head up slightly and puts her hand on her forehead.

'Oh.'

'That's what you get for drinking too much tequila,' Dylan says with his eyes still shut.

Brenda looks at him for a few seconds. His eyes are still closed, his arm is still wrapped around her, and he has a slight smile on his face.

'Yeah, I'll remember that next time,' she says. She rolls out of bed, only just realizing that she's not wearing any pants. She was so caught up in the feeling of being next to him, that she didn't realize that she was half naked.

To hide her shock, she casually walks to her dresser, pulls out a pair of sweatpants and puts them on. She grabs a tee shirt from the drawer and walks out in the hall and into the bathroom.

Dylan gets up and walks out into the kitchen to see Iris sitting at the table, reading a book and drinking a cup of tea.

She looks at him for a few seconds, smiles, and then looks back down at her book.

'Not a word,' he says to her and begins to brew a pot of coffee.

Brenda comes out from the bathroom and walks into the kitchen.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 8**_

'Good morning, Iris,' she says and opens one of the cabinets. She pulls out a bottle of ibuprofen and takes a few pills out and pops them in her mouth.

Dylan hands her a glass of water and she drinks the whole thing.

'Good morning,' Iris says with a smile. 'How was the pub last night?'

'Oh, it was good. It was nice to see my friends again, since I haven't really seen too much of them lately,' Brenda says.

'Brenda, darling, you don't look so good,' Iris says as she gets a better look at Brenda's face.

'Yeah, well, tequila is not her friend,' Dylan says with a smile.

'I was having fun and had a few drinks, so sue me,' she says and makes a face at Dylan.

'Well, it's nice to see you too having fun together again,' Iris says, winks at Dylan and goes back to reading.

Brenda walks over to the table and sits with Iris while she waits for the coffee to finish.

'What are you reading?' she asks.

'Oh, just this poetry book that was sitting on the table,' Iris answers. Dylan turns around quickly to see that she has picked up the book he had left on the table.

Brenda watches Dylan react and almost laughs out loud. 'It's definitely a classic. There are some very good poems in there,' she says.

'You read it?' he asks her.

'Every word, it was definitely an eye-opening experience at the time,' she says.

'Why do you say that, Brenda?' Iris asks.

'Well, I had never read anything like that before,' Brenda lies.

'I do like this earmarked one, is it your favorite?' Iris asks her.

Brenda leans over to see the poem that Iris was referring to and nods her head slowly.

'Yeah, actually it is my favorite,' she says with a smile.

Dylan brings Brenda a cup of coffee and sits at the table with them.

'So, what's the plan for today?' he asks.

'I'm just waiting for the doctor to call and let me know what results of my tests are. What are you doing today, Brenda?' Iris asks her.

'I am going to take a shower, run over my lines, and then probably take a nap,' she says as her phone begins to vibrate on the counter.

Brenda gets up slowly and picks up her phone.

'Again?' she says looking down at it.

'Who is it?' Dylan asks her.

'Brandon. Over the last three weeks, I've gotten more phone calls from home than I have the entire time I've lived here. I don't what to do with all of this attention,' she says.

'Aren't you going to answer it, dear?' Iris says and then puts her hand to her chest.

'No, I'm not. He can leave a message just like he did last time,' she says and shuts her phone off.

'Mom, are you okay?' Dylan says watching her pat her chest with her hand.

'I just felt a little tension, but it's gone now,' she says.

Brenda grabs her coffee and her script and curls up on the couch to run her lines over in her head.

Iris lowers her voice and leans in Dylan's direction. 'So, what happened last night?' she asks him with a broad smile on her face.

He shakes his head a little and says, 'Nothing, she drank a lot and I just put her to bed. She didn't want to be alone so I stayed with her,' he says while Iris looks at him with disbelief.

'Nothing happened,' he firmly says again.

'You're right, now is not a good time,' she says as she pats him on the shoulder and gets up from the table.

'Why do you say that?' he asks her.

Iris goes to the counter and picks up her tarot card and brings them to the table.

'Mom, come on, don't start that now,' he says and puts his head in his hands.

She after shuffling the cards she begins to flip them over. She nods and makes confirmatory noises as each one is flipped.

'See, I told you, it's not the right time,' she says pointing to the cards on the table.

She gets up from the table and walks into her bedroom.

Dylan picks the poetry book up, gets up from the table, and goes over to the couch to sit down.

He slumps down a little to get comfortable and begins reading.

Brenda finishes running over her lines for the third time. She puts her coffee cup on the table and looks over at Dylan. He had fallen asleep about 10 minutes after he sat down and she didn't have the heart to wake him.

She carefully gets up from the couch and puts the cups in the sink. She turns around to walk to her bedroom and sees him stirring.

He shakes his head back and forth slowly and she sees his fingers moving as if to grab something out of the air. She sighs and walks back over to the couch with a glass of water ready for when he lurches himself awake from his nightmare.

It takes him a few minutes, but he sits up quickly and sucks a breath in deeply. He stares at the floor where the book had fallen for a few seconds and then looks around the room.

He turns his head to see that Brenda is sitting patiently on the other side of the couch and points to a glass of water on the table in front of him.

'Was it bad this time?' she asks softly.

He drinks the water and looks in her direction. 'Not bad, just different,' he says. He lets out a breath and leans back.

They stare at each other for a minute or two until they hear Iris' bedroom door open. She walks out into the living room and stands in front of them. She doesn't say anything, but patiently waits.

'Iris? Are you alright? Do you need anything?' Brenda asks her.

'I'm fine, dear. Just waiting,' she says. A few seconds go by and Brenda hears the phone in her apartment begin to ring.

She gets up and when she walks past Iris, she can't help but notice a huge smile on her face.

'Hello?' Brenda answers to phone with a confused tone. 'Oh, yes, she's right here, hold on.'

Brenda hands the phone to Iris and goes to sit back down on the couch.

'How did she know that the phone was going to ring?' Brenda asks Dylan.

'I have no idea. Bren, is she starting to creep you out a little bit? I mean, she's acting pretty strange with this tarot card stuff,' Dylan says watching Iris talk on the phone.

'She's not creeping me out, Dylan. It's just a set of strange coincidences,' she says.

'Yeah, right,' he says sarcastically.

Brenda and Dylan watch Iris pace while she's talking to the doctor.

'Okay, that's fine, I'll see you then,' she says into the phone and hangs it up.

'What did he say?' Dylan asks her right away.

Iris walks over to the couch and sits down between them. She grabs Dylan's hand and Brenda's hand and holds them tight as she speaks.

'Well, he ran all of the tests,' she says and looks at both of them individually before continuing. 'He agreed that there was definitely something not quite right with me, but when he looked at the results, he didn't find anything abnormal,' she tells them.

'Nothing?' Dylan asks.

'Did he say anything about the fact that you were fatigued and vomiting?' Brenda asks her.

'He said he couldn't find a medically relevant cause for those,' Iris says.

'Medically relevant? What does that mean?' Brenda asks.

'It means that my physical symptoms are linked to something else. I had a feeling that that was the case, but I wasn't entirely sure until I arrived here,' Iris answers.

'Mom, what are talking about?' Dylan asks, a little annoyed.

'What do you mean by that, Iris?'

'Well, I started to feel pretty bad, to the point where I couldn't even leave the house. That's when I decided that I had to get myself well enough to make it up to Beverly Hills to see Dylan. As soon as I made that decision, I started to feel better. When I got there and Brandon told me that he had taken off and not come back, I started to feel terrible again. I didn't start to feel better until I got on that plane to come here,' she explains.

'Iris, are you telling me that you actually feel the physical pain and other symptoms for something this is entirely mental?' Brenda asks her.

'I'm not entirely sure what it is, Brenda,' she says. 'All I know is that the symptoms come and go. Just like before going to see the doctor. It was a decision I was unsure and a little uneasy about, so I just didn't make it, until I my head was pounding so horribly bad that I threw up, which in turn forced me to make a decision.'

'Okay, this is a little weird. Isn't there any other explanation for this?' Dylan says.

'It's not entirely unheard of, Dylan. Let's just look on the bright side, it's not cancer,' she says. 'Are you feeling bad now Iris?'

'No, not at all, I feel fine. He wants to see me again at the end of next week for a follow up,' Iris says and gets up off of the couch, letting go of their hands.

'I'm going to call Brandon and tell him that I won't be back right away as planned. He asked me to let him know what was going on,' she says.

'Okay, Iris,' Brenda says and watches her walk back to her bedroom.

Brenda turns her head slowly toward Dylan as Iris disappears.

'Bren, she's not going to break out the Ouija board or anything, is she?' Dylan asks her.

Brenda laughs at him. 'Dylan, come on, lighten up a little bit,' she says and puts her hand on top of his, 'just be happy that she does not, at the moment, have a terminal disease, and let it go. According to the results, there is nothing physically wrong with her, that's got to count for something,' she tells him.

He stares up at the ceiling and then down at the couch where Brenda is rubbing her fingers with his.

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' he says.

'Now, about these nightmares,' she starts to say.

* * * * *

Brandon paces back and forth in the kitchen of Casa Walsh. 'Do you think they know our plan or something? I mean, this is really freaking me out,' he says.

'Well, unless one of us told him or the house is bugged,' Steve says looking around the kitchen.

Kelly stares at the third note they had received. It was distinctly clear that someone somewhere knew what was going on, or had an idea of what was going on.

Valerie comes into the kitchen and stares at everyone. 'What's going on?' she says.

'We got another note,' Brandon says pointing at Kelly. Valerie walks over to where Kelly is standing and Kelly hands her the note.

It only has the Marchette family stamp on it and one word.

'Brenda?' Valerie says out loud. 'How the hell do they know about Brenda?'

'I don't know, Val, but this is really starting to feel like we're being trapped into something,' Steve says.

'Yeah, no kidding. What the hell do we do?' Brandon says as the phone rings.

He answers it quickly.

'Hi Brandon, it's Iris,' she says.

'Oh, yeah, Iris, how are you doing?' he says loudly enough for everyone else to hear.

'I'm fine, just fine. The doctor called today with my test results and couldn't find anything wrong with me, but he does want to see me again, just to make sure nothing has changed before I come home,' she tells him.

'So, how long will it be before you come back here?' he asks her.

'I'm not sure, maybe another two weeks,' she says.

'Will we see you for Christmas?' he asks her.

'Probably, I think things will have calmed down by then,' Iris says.

Brandon wrinkles his face up at her reply, trying to figure out exactly what that means. He shakes it off.

'Um, Iris? Is Brenda there? I really need to talk to her,' he says.

'I'm not sure, let me check. Hold on,' Iris says. She puts the phone down and walks back into the living room.

'Brenda? Your brother is asking to speak to you. He has a strange hitch in his voice and he sounds like he's afraid or something. Maybe you should talk to him,' Iris says calmly.

Brenda looks over at Dylan. He squeezes her hand and urges her to get up.

She does and takes the phone from Iris and walks into her bedroom.

'What is it Brandon, I'm running lines for the show that opens tomorrow,' she says quickly.

'Bren, something's happened that I need to tell you about,' he says.

Brenda can sense right away that Brandon is a little scared and frustrated. 'Brandon, what is it?' she says softer.

He tells her about the strange notes that they have been receiving. He tells her about the Marchette family stamp and the fact that with some research they were able to figure out that the stamp only comes out when the family has targeted someone or a family. He's not sure yet if the fact that they've targeted someone is a good thing or a bad thing, but he's still a little scared nonetheless. He tells her that he's not quite sure what the other symbols mean, but that's the real reason they wanted to get in touch with Dylan, in case he had seen any of them before.

'Look Bren, it's not about Dylan anymore though,' he says.

'What do you mean by that, Brandon?' she asks him.

'After this last note, I don't think Dylan is the target or would have any idea what it means,' he says with a little bit of trepidation.

'Why, what's happened?' she asks.

'We just got a third note tonight. There was only one symbol on it and a name,' he says.

Brenda swallows hard and tries to figure out which one of Dylan's family is the target.

Brandon pauses, almost afraid to tell his sister that it was her name. As much as he didn't care that much for her right now, he knew that he felt a little sorry for her that she was now involved in something she wasn't even around to experience the first time.

'Brandon, please, you can't keep me in suspense this long. Who's name is on the note?' she insists.

'Bren, it had your name on it,' he says.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 9**_

'WHAT?' Dylan and Iris hear Brenda scream loudly from her bedroom. They run quickly to the closed door and Dylan opens it to see Brenda standing in the middle of her room with the phone to her ear and her mouth hanging open.

Iris feels a sharp pain in her chest as soon as she sees Brenda. She puts her hand up to her chest and leans back hard against the doorway. Dylan takes a step toward Brenda when he hears Iris hit the floor behind him.

Brenda watches Iris slide down the door frame to the floor and start breathing heavily with her hand on her chest.

'Listen Brandon, Iris looks like she's about to have a heart attack, I have to go,' she says quickly.

'Bren, I'm going to scan and send these to you so that you can see them. Maybe you can figure something out,' Brandon says.

'Whatever, I have to go,' she says.

'Mom, what's wrong? Are you in pain?' Dylan says, kneeling down over Iris.

Brenda sits next to Iris with her arm around her. Iris begins to feel the sharp pain subside to a dull pulsing ache in her chest.

She begins to slow down her breathing.

'Mom, please say something.'

'As soon as I saw Brenda's face, this sharp pain hit me right in the chest,' she tells them, still breathing heavily.

'Is it still there?' Brenda asks.

'No, it's just this pulsing ache now. Brenda, what happened on the phone?' she asks her.

Brenda looks back and forth between Iris and Dylan. She's not sure she really wants to tell them what Brandon had told her, but she figures that if this is in any way related to Iris' condition maybe it would do some good.

'Um, well, let's get you up and off of the floor first,' she says, putting a hand under Iris' forearm.

They help her to the couch. Dylan stands next to Brenda and puts his hand on her shoulder.

'Bren, what's going on?' he asks her.

She raises her eyes to meet his and he notices a little bit a fear on her face.

'Dylan, you might want to sit down too,' she says slowly, staring into his eyes.

* * * * *

'Scan that stuff to her right now, Steve,' Brandon says loudly as he slams the phone down.

'What happened?' Valerie asks.

'It sounded like Iris was having heart attack or something in the background,' Brandon says and starts pacing around the kitchen.

'This is getting out of hand, Brandon,' Donna says.

'I know, I know,' he says and continues to pace.

'What the hell are we going to do?' Brandon asks them.

'Brenda is freaked out, Iris is dying, and we are no closer to figuring this out than we were the last time we got one of these stupid notes,' Brandon says, venting his frustration out by punching the refrigerator.

'There has got to be a clue somewhere that we are missing,' he continues.

'Brandon, we've been over the notes a hundred times, there's nothing else there. I couldn't dig up anything more than we already know about the Marchette family either. I still couldn't figure out whether the targeting was for a good reason or a death sentence. Some of the people they say have been targeted at one time or another are still alive,' Steve says.

'Brandon, I know you're frustrated, but taking it out on the refrigerator is not going to help the situation,' Donna says.

'I know, I'm sorry. I just don't understand how the hell they even know Brenda. That's the piece we're missing,' Brandon says.

* * * * *

'Look, I don't know a whole lot, but here's what he told me before I hung up,' Brenda says to Iris and Dylan.

'Cryptic notes with random symbols have been appearing at the house. Brandon said that they can't make heads or tails of any of the symbols but one,' she says.

'Cryptic notes?' Iris says.

'Symbols like what, hieroglyphics or something?' Dylan asks.

'I don't know, Dylan. He's going to scan the notes over so that I can take a look at them,' she says.

'How many notes are there?' Iris asks slowly.

'Three so far,' Brenda says.

'Yes, that makes sense,' Iris says calmly, nodding her head. 'Go on.'

'Makes sense? What are you talking about, Mom? How does that make any sense whatsoever?' Dylan asks her, getting agitated.

'Shush,' she says to him and looks at Brenda.

'Well, the first two had a bunch of symbols on it, but the third one only had one and a name. It was the only one so far that actually had written letters on it and not just symbols like all of the other ones. Brandon said that the symbol on the third note matches one of the symbols seen on the other two,' she says and then looks down at the floor.

'Do they know what that symbol means?' Dylan asks.

Brenda nods her head and finally picks her head up to look at him.

'Dylan,' she pauses, 'it's the symbol of the Marchette family.'

Realization comes over Dylan's face immediately. He gets up quickly and walks over to where Brenda is standing.

'Whose name was on the note?' he asks her firmly, towering over her. Brenda stares back up at him and almost stumbles backward. There is a long pause before anyone speaks.

'Brenda's name is on the note,' Iris says loudly and suddenly.

They both turn their heads to look at her at the same time. The color has come back into Iris' face and she stands up slowly and walks to the table to pick up her cards.

'Mom, come on, Brenda has never even met any of them. They don't even know who she is,' Dylan starts to say.

Brenda puts her hand up to stop him from speaking and shakes her head at him. He looks at her with confusion.

'She's right. My name is on the note, Dylan,' she says.

He stares at her with his mouth wide open. She walks over to her computer and pulls up the message sent from Steve. She opens each one of the scans and prints them out.

As they are coming off of the printer, Iris becomes calmer and calmer. She sits at the table shuffling her cards with her eyes closed for a few minutes.

She nods her head as she sees Brenda lay the notes one by one on the table. She looks at them for a few seconds and almost laughs out loud.

'Of course,' she says and gets up and goes to her bedroom. She comes back several minutes later with another deck of tarot cards.

Dylan picks up one of the notes and tries to figure out what the symbols could mean. He recognizes the Marchette family stamp immediately.

'I don't recognize any of these other ones,' he says to Brenda, who is looking at the second note.

When the third and final note prints and he sees the stamp with Brenda's name written above it, his chest tightens up and he almost forgets how to breathe.

Iris begins laying tarot cards down on the table.

* * * * *

'How the hell did they get to Brenda? I mean, there is no reason to make that connection,' Brandon says.

'Brandon, we don't know that much about Toni's family. There are a ridiculous amount of possibilities here,' Steve says.

'I know, but if they were going with the angle of Dylan's girlfriends, or other important women in his life, don't you think they would have come up with Iris or even Kelly before Brenda?'

Kelly looks down at the floor and then back up at Brandon. 'He's right, it would take a lot of digging to connect Brenda with Dylan at this point,' she says.

'Maybe that's not what it means. Maybe it means something totally different,' Valerie suggests.

They all look at her at the same time. 'What else could it mean, Valerie? I mean, seriously, Brenda's only connection to Dylan is the fact that he was my friend and they dated,' Brandon says.

Donna begins to weep in the corner of the kitchen. She puts her hands up to her face and cries out loud.

'Donna?' Steve says.

'I can't take this anymore. This is too weird. Something's wrong here and one of our friends might be in serious danger and we're just standing around doing nothing. We need help and I think we should call that Christine woman from the FBI right now,' she says firmly through her tears.

Everyone is quiet for a few minutes while Donna continues to cry. Kelly walks up to her with a tissue and hands it to her.

'We'll call her, Donna. Don't worry,' Kelly says and stares at Brandon.

* * * * *

Iris continues to lay her tarot deck out on the table. Brenda stares at the notes to try to figure out what some of the symbols might be.

Iris finishes placing the cards on the table and walks over to where Brenda is standing and takes the notes from her. She lays them out at the end of the table and begins pulling cards with matching symbols.

'Oh my God,' Brenda says slowly, as she watches Iris match the cards to the notes.

'Mom, what does all of this mean?' Dylan says as he stands watching her in confusion.

'It means that someone is trying to tell us something,' Iris says.

She continues pulling cards and putting them in order of the symbols on the notes. Iris stands back and looks at the notes again.

'Ah, yes, of course,' she says and walks back to her bedroom. Dylan and Brenda exchange confused looks and just stand there waiting for Iris to return.

She comes back with two velvet bags. She picks up the cards that do not match any of the symbols and puts them on the kitchen counter. She opens one of the bags and dumps out a set of runes onto the table.

Iris picks up some of the runes and fills in the holes between the cards with the correct symbols.

'This is really complicated,' Dylan says, watching Iris work.

'It's just another form of communication, Dylan. Now, let's try to figure out how all of these things go together,' Iris says.

'Brenda, dear, get me a piece a paper and a pen, would you?' Iris asks her. Brenda walks over to the printer and grabs some paper and a pen for Iris.

Iris begins to write down the symbols in order.

'Okay, so how do you do this exactly?' Dylan asks her.

'Dylan, please, honey, sit down and relax. The answer will come in due time,' Iris says to him and goes back to writing.

As Iris is writing down symbols and thinking about their meanings, Dylan paces the living room. Brenda watches Iris work and is fascinated as to how quickly Iris knew exactly what the symbols were. She stands up after about an hour and walks over to where Dylan is standing.

'Bren, this is too weird. I just can't figure out how the Marchette family could know anything about you,' he says.

Brenda gives him a small smile and puts her hand on his arm. She immediately feels him relax into her touch.

'Dylan, while we're waiting for Iris to work her magic, it might be time for you to know about Brandon,' she says.

'I don't know if I can take anymore information right now, Bren,' he says.

'All you have to do is listen, Dylan. You don't have to think or even say anything at all. Maybe focusing on something else for a little while will help jog your memory or something,' she says with pleading eyes.

He looks into her eyes and feels the tension and anxiety slip away slowly. He lets her lead him to the couch and sit him down. She sits next to him holding one of his hands in both of hers.

'Brandon and I used to talk to each other a few times a month just to catch up on what was going on and make sure that we were both still alive. It was almost a routine on Sundays that he would call me to talk,' Brenda says.

'For a while it was just gossip about you guys and anything else he needed to get off of his chest. I would tell him about the plays I was working on and the tours I was taking and he would tell me how proud he was of me that I was making a good life for myself without him,' Brenda says, with a small smile.

'Every now and again, he would get serious and sentimental and start talking about his feelings. He would vent to me about Kelly and anything that may have been going on with you and Steve. He talked about Valerie a little bit for a while there, but ultimately decided that she just wanted to sleep with everybody and that she really didn't care about anything at all,' Brenda says.

Dylan nods his head slightly at Brandon's assessment of Valerie.

Brenda smiles at him and continues her story.

'He talked a lot about Kelly and all of it was good up until the part where he considered asking her to marry him. He was really nervous and unsure of his decision for a long time. Then one day he calls me up and tells me that you had come back into the picture and now it felt like a tug of war to gain Kelly's affection,' Brenda says.

'He told you about that?' Dylan says quickly.

Brenda smiles again and shakes her head. 'Of course he did, Dylan. Brothers and sisters tell each other a lot of things,' she says.

'Damn,' he says almost to himself and looks down at the couch cushion.

'As things started to get more and more involved in Beverly Hills, Brandon started to not call as much and when he did talk to me, it was one word answers and no detail about anything,' she tells him.

'I brushed it off for a while, figuring that there was a lot going on and he just didn't want to talk about it with me. I would still tell him what was going on around here and he would reply with indifferent responses like 'Good' or 'That's interesting,' she says.

'It wasn't until the phone calls dropped to one every two months or so that I started to get worried,' she says.

'I had finally got in touch with him about six months ago and the conversation started off normally and I thought that he was over whatever it was that was bothering him, but I was so very wrong,' she says.

_Flashback_

'_Hey Bren,' Brandon says into the phone._

'_Hi Brandon, I'm so glad I caught you. You've been difficult to get a hold of,' she tells him and laughs a little._

'_Yeah, sorry about that, I've been kind of busy with this newspaper job and I haven't really been around much,' he tells her._

'_Newspaper job, huh? I thought you swore off of the campus newspaper?' she asks him._

'_Yeah, well,' Brandon trails off._

'_Ah, I see. Is she pretty?' Brenda says._

_Brandon laughs at his sister's intuition. 'Yes, Brenda, she is, but that's not entirely the reason why I'm doing it,' he says._

'_Uh huh, sure, Brandon, and I have a bridge to sell you,' she jokes with him._

_They share a laugh and Brenda relaxes into the playfulness of old Brandon. She hopes that stubborn, indifferent, obnoxious Brandon does not show up this time._

'_So, what's going on there?' Brandon asks her._

'_Not much, I'm about to get on the road again to tour through Ireland and Scotland with this new play that I'm in,' she tells him._

'_Which one is it this time?' he asks._

'_It's 'The Glass Menagerie', a very interesting play I must say,' she says._

'_Yeah, I think I've heard about that one. Well, break a leg, I'm sure it will be your best performance yet,' he says._

'_Thank you, Brandon,' she says. 'So, what else is going on in the land of perpetual soap opera situations?' she asks him._

_Brandon gets quiet and doesn't answer her for a few seconds._

'_Same old, Bren,' he says carefully._

'_Come on, Brandon, you're hiding something from me,' she says knowingly._

'_Bren, I don't really want to go into that. If you want to know what's going on around here, come back and ask everyone yourself,' he says angrily._

_Brenda is taken aback by Brandon's almost immediate turn._

'_Brandon, I was just asking, there's no reason to get angry with me,' she says._

'_Yeah, well, I'm kind of tired of being your eyes and ears around here,' he says. 'Are you just going to stay away forever? You can't run from your problems and think that they are just going to go away,' he says._

'_I'm not running, Brandon,' she says firmly._

'_Yeah, well, that's a bunch of crap. You ran to London to get away from everything that was going on here. That may not be the reason you stayed, but it certainly has something to do with it,' he says._

_Brenda sits on the other end of the phone speechless._

'_Oh, what? Nothing to say? Bren, you need to grow the hell up. We're getting older now and it's time you took responsibility for your actions. Everyone here is just living their lives the best they can and I suggest you do the same. If you not going to come back, then I guess you better be content with what you have in front of you.'_

'_Brandon, where is this coming from?' Brenda says with tears in her eyes._

Present Day

'He continued to talk down to me during the entire conversation. When he hung up on me, I felt this huge hole inside of my chest and cried for a few days about it,' Brenda says.

'A few months later, I come home from a show to a message on my answering machine from him,' Brenda says and begins to tear up.

Dylan squeezes her hand and looks at her with concern.

'What did he say?' he asks.

Brenda takes a deep breath and recites word for word the message that Brandon left her that day. She tries to hold the tears back, but cries steadily while she is talking.

'He said with a cold tone, _'Brenda, I just wanted to be the first to break the news to you. Dylan is getting married. He's finally over the Brenda and Kelly triangle of hell. He's marrying someone else and is really happy with her. Now, send your regards and stay the hell away from here. No one asks about you, no one even wants to know what you are doing, and no one cares enough to even call you. I'm done being your Beverly Hills reporter. It's time that you stopped being a bitch and grew the hell up. Don't call me anymore unless you are dying. I don't have anything else to say to you_.'

Dylan sits staring with his mouth open at Brenda as she tells him what Brandon said to her.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A Difficult Kind**_ – _**Chapter 10**_

Brenda wipes the tears from her face and tries to calm herself down after reliving those horrible moments with Brandon.

'And that was the last time I had spoken to him before you showed up and he called me that day we were sitting in the bar,' Brenda finally says after a few minutes.

Dylan continues to stare at her and shakes his head a little. 'My God, Bren, I had no idea any of that was going on. Brandon didn't show one sign that you two were fighting and not getting along,' he says.

'Yeah, well, maybe he's a better actor than I am,' she says, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Dylan gives her a weak smile and squeezes her hand again. 'Not by a long shot,' he says staring right into her eyes.

'He turned into such a jerk so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to process it all. I just started to get over it and now it's all coming back to me like it was yesterday,' she says.

Dylan thinks about Brenda's interactions with Brandon during the time that he's been in London with her.

'The whole Christmas thing makes a whole lot more sense now,' Dylan says. 'After insulting you and being a complete jerk and then asking you to come home for Christmas just doesn't add up. There's something else going on here.'

'That was my first thought after he said it to me on the phone. Maybe it has something to do with these notes,' Brenda says, looking over at Iris, who was still at the table writing.

Dylan's mind immediately goes back to the situation that they were dealing with before Brenda started talking about Brandon. He smiles to himself, realizing that she was right, he was distracted for a long time and wasn't thinking about Marchette.

Brenda gets up off of the couch and goes into the bathroom to clean herself up. She looks into the mirror and wipes the makeup from underneath her eyes off. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to slow her heartbeat down.

She walks back into the room and sees Dylan standing at the table with Iris.

'Okay, I think I may have figured this out,' Iris says. 'Whoever put this note together did a fantastic job of telling the story. Now, I'm not sure that I have it entirely right, but I think I have a good idea,' she says.

Dylan sits down and waits for Iris to continue.

'What does it say?' he asks her.

'Well, the first note is very interesting. See this symbol here? This is the symbol of the Empress and it repeats several times in both notes. They may have changed the direction of the symbol, but nonetheless it is the same one,' Iris explains.

'Does that mean that it represents a person?' Brenda asks, walking over and sitting next to Dylan.

'I actually think it's supposed to be Toni. Although I've never met her, it fits with the way the story plays out,' Iris says.

Dylan nods, unable to come up with anything to say.

'The next symbol is connected to the Empress,' Iris says and points to the note where the two symbols are together. It is the Hanged Man,' Iris says.

'It's not what you think, though, it actually means personal sacrifice,' Iris says quickly as she sees Dylan open his mouth say something. He closes it and nods his head.

'Then we have the Fool, this represents you sweetheart,' Iris says to Dylan. 'It means to represent someone that walks blindly to his fate, without listening to or realizing the warning signs throughout the way,' Iris says.

Brenda looks over at Dylan and he almost cracks a smile. 'Yeah, that sounds about right,' he says.

Brenda and Iris laugh at him.

'The next few symbols all revolve around how, I'm guessing, the Marchette family reacted to you and Toni being together. The rune symbol means a destructive, reactive force to conflict,' Iris says as she sees Dylan nodding his head again.

'The next symbol is the Marchette family followed by the Tower,' Iris says and points to the card.

Brenda looks at the card imagery and gasps. 'Iris, that card does not look like it's a good thing,' she says, staring at the brick tower, with flames coming out of the windows and people falling from the sky.

'It looks worse than it is, Brenda. It is the culmination of a lot of things, including destruction with such force, that the result may be death,' she says.

'Isn't that the Empress symbol again?' Brenda says, pointing to the next symbol on the note.

'Yes, it is and it's connected to the symbol for the Sun, which I think represents Toni's spiritual transition from life to the afterlife,' Iris explains.

Dylan automatically feels his chest tighten at the mention of Toni and the afterlife. He takes a few quick breaths and lets the last one out slowly.

'The last symbol on this note is the Wheel of Fortune, and this card always represents the fact that we have no control of our or anyone else's fate whatsoever,' she says.

'Wow, that is quite a story,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, but I still don't understand what the hell that has to do with anything at all,' Dylan says.

'You will in time, sweetheart,' Iris says. 'I'm going to work on the second note now, okay? Run along and leave me be.'

Brenda and Dylan exchange looks as Iris shoos them from the table with her hand. They get up slowly and walk back over to the couch.

'Bren, let's get out of here. I don't think I can just sit back and watch her do this,' he says.

Brenda nods and goes to her room to put on a pair of shoes.

'Iris, we're going to take a walk around. Call us as soon as you're done or if you need anything, okay?' Brenda says.

'Mm hmm,' Iris says concentrating on the second set of symbols.

Brenda and Dylan leave her apartment and begin to walk around.

'Where should we go Bren?' he asks her.

'Um, how about we bum around Hyde Park for a while? That should take some time and it's nice and peaceful,' she suggests.

'Sounds good,' he says.

They get on the Tube to Hyde Park and as they are entering the park, Dylan spots someone standing on a large box just inside the sidewalk with a few people standing around listening.

'Is that some kind of protest or something?' Dylan asks Brenda.

Brenda looks over and starts to laugh a little. 'It might be. That's Speaker's Corner, Dylan. Anyone can get up on that box and talk about pretty much anything they want. A lot of famous people in the past used it as a way to get their voices heard,' she says.

'Interesting,' Dylan says keeping his eyes on the speaker as they walk into the park.

Brenda and Dylan start their walk around Hyde Park. They walk for a while taking in the beautiful day and the shining sun, which they hadn't seen for a few days. They find a bench overlooking the water and sit down.

'Bren,' he starts to say, looking over at her, 'I wanted to thank you for being so great these last few weeks. I could not have gotten through this without you,' he says and takes her hand.

She feels a jolt go up her spine when he touches her and looks back up at him with a smile on her face.

'I told you that I'd always be here for you, Dylan, no matter what is going on,' she says.

'You know, you are the only one who really has been. After everything that we went through together, I always knew deep down that you were meant to be in my life,' he says sincerely.

They look into each others eyes for what seemed like forever. A slight breeze starts to blow through the park and Brenda lifts her hand to push a piece of her hair out of her face, but Dylan beats her to it. He pushes her hair behind her ear and cups the side of her face.

She looks down at his arm and then back up to his eyes. She sees a very familiar look in his eyes and gets lost in his stare for a few seconds. He ever so slightly urges her toward him with his hand and she lets her head get closer to his. He leans down slowly, carefully watching her to see if she'll pull away from him.

Brenda thinks in her head that she should pull away and that kissing him right now would be a really bad idea, but can't seem to fight the gravitation of her body to his.

He realizes that she is not resisting and dips down to capture her lips with his. They start to kiss slowly and tentatively, neither one of them moving their bodies at all. Brenda feels the slight resistance she may have had fade away as Dylan reaches his hand around her shoulder and pulls her closer. She puts her hand up to his face and holds it there while they kiss each other.

* * * * *

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon paces the kitchen floor as he talks on the phone to Christine from the FBI.

'Brandon, tell me everything,' she says.

Brandon tells her about the notes they had received and their plan to try to bring Dylan back to town using Brenda.

'I'm really concerned about this. I don't know that much about the Marchette family, since after Jack's death I was moved to another department, but I'll see what I can find out. For the moment though it seems that you and your friends might be in danger,' Christine says.

'Danger from what? They're after Brenda right?' Brandon asks her.

'I don't know at this point who they're after. Her name was on the note, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're after her. It's probable, but may not be what we think it is. To be safe though, I'd like to contact some of our agents that are over in Europe right now and see what the likelihood of putting a detail on her would be. If Iris is there too, that means that two people with good connections to Dylan are in the same place, and that's never a good thing,' she tells him.

'I didn't tell her yet that I was going to contact you, maybe you should talk to her and ask her if she's seen anything unusual first,' Brandon says.

'I definitely want to talk to her. If she has any information at all, it would at least give us a starting point. I'd also like to take a look around your house and Dylan's house. Maybe something was left behind that will point us in the right direction. I'll be in touch, Brandon,' she says.

'Okay, thanks,' he says. Brandon hangs up the phone and puts his hand to his forehead.

'How the hell did this happen?' he says to himself.

He feels a tightening in his chest when he thinks about the dangerous situation that he may have put his sister in.

* * * * *

Iris sits at the table trying to make sense of the symbols from the second note. She is finding that this one is a little more difficult than the first one. She stands up from the table and stretches her body. She starts to walk around the apartment and tries to clear her head.

She goes into her bedroom and pulls out the bag she received from the doctor. She brings a blanket and a few candles out into the living room and starts to meditate.

Iris slowly relaxes her entire body starting with her toes up to her shoulders. She sits with her back entirely straight and her hands resting on her knees. She breathes in and out slowly to capture a rhythm.

As she sits peacefully, the symbols she was analyzing float slowly through her mind. She sees the Empress symbol stop in the center of her thoughts and hang there. Iris tries to see through the symbol to a deeper meaning of what Toni is trying to tell them.

She fully believes that all of these messages are from Toni and that there is something deeper that she needs to say. Iris continues to watch the symbols float around Toni and align themselves with her symbol.

She focuses on the alignment and tries to memorize the order.

* * * * *

Brenda and Dylan sit on the bench with their arms around each other kissing slowly. Brenda relaxes her entire body into his arms as he pulls her closer.

When they finally part from each other, Dylan puts his hand on the side of her face and holds her close for a few more seconds.

'Dylan,' she says.

'Sssh, let's not talk about it right now, okay?' he whispers to her.

She nods her head slowly as he moves his hand from her face to her hand. He stands up slowly, pulling her off of the bench and continues walking around the water.

They walk in silence holding hands, stealing glances at each other every few minutes.

'Fancy meeting you here,' Brenda hears from behind her. She turns around at the sound of a familiar voice.

'Beau,' she says and stops walking.

Dylan lets go of Brenda's hand, puts his arm around her shoulders and turns around to face Beau.

'Are you performing today?' she asks him. He nods his head at her, but stares at Dylan the entire time.

'Still here I see,' he says to Dylan. 'It's amazing to me that years have gone by with no visitors, yet you come and stay for over a month,' Beau continues.

Dylan smiles at him and raises his eyebrows.

'Beau, first of all that was incredibly rude and second, it's none of your business,' Brenda shoots back at him.

Beau shrugs his shoulders and starts to walk around them, bumping Brenda in the shoulder as he does.

She stumbles a little, but Dylan steadies her as Beau quickly turns the corner.

'Bren, did something happen with that guy that I should know about? I mean, he's not going to come and kill us while we sleep, is he?' Dylan asks her.

'Nothing happened between us, Dylan. I've never seen him act like that before,' she says.

'Well, be careful around him, okay?' Dylan says.

Brenda nods her head as Dylan grabs her hand and continues to walk down the path.

'We should head back soon,' Brenda says. 'I'm worried about Iris.'

'Well, she hasn't called yet and I don't want to bother her,' Dylan says. He tries to cover up the fact that he wants to spend more time with her alone and not deal with what's going on with Iris back at the apartment.

Brenda smiles knowingly and just nods her head. Dylan looks at her and realizes that she knows exactly what he's trying to do.

Dylan stops walking and turns to face her. 'Bren, I'm not avoiding what's going on, I just want to prolong it for just a little bit longer. I don't know what she's going to find in that second note and it scares me a little. I just want to enjoy these moments before going back into that, okay?' he explains.

'I understand, Dylan. What would you like to do?' she asks him.

Dylan raises his eyebrows at her and squeezes her hand. She looks up at him and smiles.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 11**_

Dylan and Brenda continue to walk around the park hand in hand. They reach the other side and stand on the sidewalk looking around them.

'Well, what now?' Dylan asks.

Brenda looks around and says, 'Hold that thought.' She reaches into her pocket for her ringing phone.

'Hello? Oh, okay, sure, we'll be right there,' Brenda says.

'Iris is done with the second note,' she tells him. Dylan takes a deep breath and lets it out.

'Okay, well, let's go see what she's come up with,' he says as they start walking back to the tube station.

Iris paces back and forth at the apartment waiting for Brenda and Dylan to return. She tries to figure out how to explain to them the confusing connections between the symbols on the second note. The symbols she saw during meditation were in the note, but no where near each other and Iris couldn't figure out how they all fit together this time.

Another ten minutes goes by and Iris begins to feel the nervousness rising within her body until she hears the door knob turn.

Brenda and Dylan walk into the apartment smiling at each other and laughing. Iris takes one look at them and an eerie calm comes over her.

'So, Mom, what do we have?' Dylan says.

'Well, I'm not entirely sure. I tried to put the meanings of the symbols together just like the first note, but I think I'm missing some information, because it only makes a little bit of sense,' she says.

Brenda puts her hand on Iris' back. 'Well, just tell us what you know and maybe we can brainstorm it together,' she says.

Iris nods and smiles at Brenda and then sits down at the table.

'Okay, well, from what I can tell this note is more intense than the last one and there seems to be a few more people represented,' Iris says.

'This one starts off with Dylan as the Hermit,' she says pointing to one of the cards. 'The Hermit represents a solo journey, physically and mentally to determine the right path,' Iris says.

'Looks like that's right on target, huh?' Dylan says.

'I would say so,' Iris says with a smile.

'The next two are connected and it starts with a rune and flows into the Empress symbol yet again. The rune represents a guardian, protection or shielding for defense,' Iris explains.

'So, does that mean that Toni is watching over Dylan as he makes his journey and she's protecting him as he goes?' Brenda asks her.

'That's how I see it. Very good, Brenda,' she says.

'I have been having dreams about her where she is talking to me, but I can't hear what she's saying,' Dylan admits.

'You've been having dreams about her? What kind of dreams?' Iris says quickly.

'Just dreams, Mom. She's standing in front of me with her wedding dress on, talking, but I can't hear her,' he says.

Iris looks back down at the note and the cards surrounding it. She writes a few more things down and nods her head.

'Well, the next rune is distinctly known as some kind of communication or message that is transferred through the spiritual world. I originally thought that it may have had something to do with you, but the Marchette symbol follows, so I can only assume that either Toni or someone else tried to contact them or send a message to someone in her family,' Iris says.

'This is where it starts to get a little confusing,' Iris says, pointing to the next symbol on the note.

'This is the symbol of the High Priestess, which is mostly present in readings to represent a strong woman with divine and or spiritual wisdom, understanding, and enlightenment,' Iris tells them.

She shakes her head and stares back down at her notes. 'I don't know who that is meant to represent. Dylan, was there anyone in Toni's family that may have had some spiritual experience?' Iris asks.

Dylan thinks for a few seconds. 'I don't think so, Mom,' he says.

Iris sighs as Brenda stares at the images on the cards and the symbols on the note.

'Do you think it's connected to the next symbol, even though their not physically connected on the page?' Brenda asks.

Iris looks down at the next symbol. 'Yes, it's definitely connected to the Moon.'

'What does the Moon card mean?' Dylan asks her.

'Well, sweetheart, it means many things. If it is meant to represent a person, it usually means that the person is just learning to use their psychic abilities consciously. In learning to use these abilities, there is a danger of using them for the wrong reason,' Iris says.

'Iris, what if the Moon card is not meant to describe the High Priestess, but to describe the situation the Priestess is in?' Brenda asks her.

Iris looks back down at the cards and starts to think about the other meanings of the Moon card.

'That's an interesting idea, Brenda. In certain situations, this card can represent a hidden truth, misunderstandings, conflict, and dangerous power. Madness, desperation, and even death can be caused by the search for this tremendous power and hidden knowledge,' Iris explains.

'Wait,' Brenda says slowly, 'what if the High Priestess is you, Iris? The mystery behind your illness and the fact that you are now consciously trying to use your abilities to figure out the truth behind these symbols all fits together with what you just said.'

Iris' eyes grow wider as Brenda is speaking. She looks back down at her notes and then up at the cards again.

'Oh, my, I think you may be right,' Iris says.

'Mom, how on Earth would they know anything about you, especially enough for you to make it into this creepy note?' Dylan asks her.

'I don't know, Dylan, but it does fit,' she says, scribbling on the piece of paper in front of her.

'That makes a lot of sense now,' Iris says nodding her head.

'What?' Dylan asks her.

'Well, the next two symbols also represent a person, but I was pretty sure that I knew who that was before, but now I definitely know,' Iris says. 'I'm glad you told me that you had been seeing Toni in your dreams, because the connection here makes a little more sense to me now.'

'Why do you say that?' Dylan asks her.

'Let's look at the note from the beginning up until this point. Dylan on a journey, with Toni protecting him, a spiritual message to someone in Toni's family, a person with some kind of psychic abilities gets enough information to begin deciphering the hidden truth, and then,' Iris says and points to the next two symbol.

Dylan and Brenda stare down at the symbols that Iris is pointing to with her hand.

'Enter Brenda,' Iris says.

'Brenda?' Dylan asks her.

'Somehow they had to know that you were around and connected somehow to me. Somehow, whoever wrote these notes, knew that I would be able to communicate all of this to you,' Iris says to Brenda. 'Your name doesn't show up in the third note for no reason.'

Brenda's face blanches a little as she starts to feel a little fear. She is afraid of what Iris will say next.

She swallows hard and then says, 'What do they mean?

'The first one is the Star, which represents understanding, happiness and destiny, which is connected to the Strength symbol, which besides a great inner strength, also means force of will and determination,' she says.

'Well, that definitely sounds like you,' Dylan says to her. She looks at him and smiles and then laughs a little bit.

'The next two symbols also confused me. The cards that the symbols represent are not usually connected to each other,' Iris says.

'Why is that?' Brenda asks her.

'Well, their meanings connect to a certain degree, but don't really flow as the others do. The first one is the symbol for Death,' Iris says.

Dylan and Brenda turn their heads quickly to look at Iris.

'It doesn't really mean actual death,' she says, 'It means an abrupt change, an end to things as they are, a complete and utter severance with the past,' Iris says.

Dylan looks down at the table, sighs, and then back up to meet Brenda's eyes on him.

'The second one is the symbol for Judgement. This also means the end of one thing and the beginning of another, but not necessarily abrupt and always for the better. The Death card can go both ways, but Judgement is the answers to all of the questions, a rebirth, problems solved, the truth revealed,' Iris explains.

'Interesting,' Brenda says. 'Does that mean that I'm going to be the one that brings about the change for the better?'

Iris looks at her and shrugs. 'I'm not entirely sure, Brenda,' she says.

'Okay, the next one is,' Iris says, looking down at her notes.

Dylan clears his throat loudly and says, 'Uh, I don't think we need an explanation of that one, Mom.'

Brenda looks down and sees that Iris has picked up the Lovers card.

'It doesn't just mean that, Dylan. This is a joining of two spirits, a union, a harmony, if you will,' she says.

Brenda picks up the third note with her name written on it. She looks at it closely.

'Iris, I think there's another symbol here,' she says, pointing to the 'a' in her name.

Iris picks up the note and brings it closer to her face so that she can see it.

'You're right, there is,' she says. She searches the table and picks up another rune.

'Well, Brenda, even though she's never met you, Toni seems to have a very good impression of you,' she says.

'What does that mean?' Dylan says.

'This rune represents strength, reliability, and dependability,' she says. 'Toni must have said really good things about you.'

'This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced,' Brenda says.

'I think my head is going to explode. This is just too much,' Dylan says and gets up from the table. He walks over to the couch and lies down with his arm over his face.

'Brenda, are you sure that you've never come in contact with anyone from Toni's family?' Iris asks her.

'I never met her or her family. I don't even know what she looks like,' Brenda says.

'That is very strange,' Iris says. 'I'm going to go meditate for a little while. Something may come to me now that we've been through all of the notes,' she says and gets up from the table.

Brenda sits and stares at the notes again. She contemplates what kind of change she could be responsible for that would turn out good in the end. She thinks about it for a long while and then gets up from the table.

She looks over at Dylan on the couch and sees that his hand has slipped from his face and he has fallen asleep.

Brenda covers Dylan with a blanket, places a glass of water by the couch and goes into her bedroom.

She flops down on the bed and decides that she had better get some more sleep before even trying to think about all of the things she had just learned.

Dylan turns over in his sleep. He finally sees Toni in his dream, the same way he's seen her through the last few dreams, in her wedding dress staring at him. Her mouth begins to move again and he strains to hear what she's saying.

'Dylan,' he finally hears her say. 'I love you.'

'I love you, Dylan. I will always love you,' he hears and then she fades away.

He is startled awake by the ringing of a phone and sits up quickly. He sees Brenda cross the room and pick up the phone and start talking to the person on the other end.

'Okay, I'll bring it with me,' she says and hangs up.

'Who was that?' he asks her.

'Just my director, he needs me to bring a shawl for one of the other girls with me tonight,' she says.

'Do you have to go in today?' he asks her.

'Yeah, in about a half hour, but it's just tech rehearsal and final dress,' she says. 'I better go search for my shawl, since I have no idea where it is,' she says with a smile and goes into her room.

Dylan sits up and rubs his eyes. He sees the door to his mother's room open and watches her walk slowly to him and sit down.

'Dylan?' she says with her hand on his shoulder.

'Yeah?'

'Are you alright? I have a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that something has changed in this situation. Something is definitely different than it was before,' she says.

Dylan stares at his mother in disbelief. _'Maybe she is some kind of psychic savant or something.'_

'What? What did I say?' she asks him.

'Nothing, it's just weird that every time something happens you either know about it ahead of time or you collapse from some kind of physical pain,' he says.

He shakes his head a little and takes his mother's hand in his.

'I finally heard Toni speak in my dream while I was taking a nap,' he says. 'I'm not sure if she would have said more since she kind of faded as I was waking up, but I definitely heard her this time,' he says slowly.

'What did she say?'

'She said 'I love you. I will always love you' and then faded,' he tells her.

Iris smiles at him and squeezes his hand. 'That's a good sign, Dylan. It either means that she has said all she needs to say or that this phase is over with,' she tells him.

'This phase? What does that mean?' he asks.

'Well, maybe she needed to keep showing up in your dreams until you heard her and now that you have, maybe she'll return to tell you something else. There's really no way to tell,' she says.

Dylan thinks about what his mother just said. He gets up from the couch and goes to the kitchen to make some coffee.

Iris sits peacefully on the couch watching her son move around the kitchen. She sees Brenda come out of her room with a beautiful black shawl with fringe at the edges and tiny sequins shining in the light.

'Brenda, that is beautiful,' Iris says as Brenda hands it to her.

'Thank you, I saw it in a shop and could not resist. Although strangely enough I have yet to wear it anywhere,' Brenda says with a laugh.

Brenda walks over to the front door and puts her shoes on and then back over to Iris to collect the shawl.

'Okay, I'm off. I'll see you guys in a little while,' she says and leaves her apartment.

Brenda walks the few blocks from her apartment to the theatre quickly. She sees several people milling outside of the theatre and smiles when she sees the director.

'Will this work?' she asks him holding up the shawl for him to see.

'Ah, Brenda, this is perfect, thank you, darling,' he says and kisses the top of her head.

'No problem,' she replies.

'You're Brenda Walsh?' a man on the sidewalk asks her.

'Um, yes,' she says.

'Wow, I've heard so much about you. I'm looking forward to your performance tomorrow night. I saw you in the Tawes Company production of 'The Glass Menagerie'. You were fantastic,' the man says.

'Oh, well thank you very much. I hope you enjoy this one as much,' Brenda says, trying to be polite. She shakes the man's outstretched hand and then walks quickly into the theatre.

* * * * *

Brandon paces the length of the floor in the kitchen of Casa Walsh. The front door opens and Kelly and Donna walk in.

'What did the FBI lady say?' Donna asks.

'Well, I talked to her for a while this afternoon. She's really concerned about Dylan and even more concerned about Iris and Brenda. She said that she doesn't know that much about the Marchette family, but that by the next time she calls, she will,' Brandon tells them.

'What did she say about the creepy notes we've been getting?' Kelly asks.

'Well, she actually wasn't that concerned about those. She said that a lot of mafia families use this as a tactic, but they use it for several reasons. She's not sure which one the Marchette family has in mind,' Brandon says.

'Well, what other reason to do it other than to scare the crap out of the people that receive them?' Donna asks him.

'I'm not sure. I guess we just have to wait for her to tell us what she knows,' Brandon says, dejected.

'Brandon,' Kelly says and walks over to where he slumped down in one of the chairs, 'are you alright?'

'I don't know, Kel. The fact that she was more concerned about Brenda's safety than Dylan's really makes me uncomfortable,' he says.

'Do you think that they're really after her? I mean, they can't know that much about her,' Donna says.

'I know, that's what I keep telling myself, but I just don't think I believe it.'

* * * * *

Brenda finishes her rehearsal and goes to walk out of the theatre. She hesitates a little bit before exiting the building and looks around for any more people that may be waiting. She doesn't see anyone and walks quickly down the street.

She opens the door to her apartment walks inside. She looks into the living room and starts to laugh out loud at the sight.

'That is not fair, no laughing,' Dylan says looking in her direction.

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It just took me a little by surprise, that's all,' she says.

'Brenda, come and join us, it's very relaxing,' Iris says with her eyes closed.

Brenda kicks off her shoes and puts her keys down and goes to join Iris and Dylan on the floor in the living room. They were sitting with their legs crossed, hands resting on their knees, eyes closed, with their heads pointed toward the ceiling.

Brenda tries to mimic their position and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

'I can't believe you're actually meditating, Dylan,' she says.

'Well, I figured that I might as well try it. Mom thinks there's more that Toni needs to tell me,' he says.

'You heard her finally?' Brenda says opening her eyes and looking at him. He opens his eyes too.

'Yeah, all she said was that she loved me,' he says.

'What do you mean 'all she said'? That's great that you finally heard her,' Brenda says.

'I do think that she has more to say other than that though, but we need to give her the time and space to be able to do that,' Iris says.

'So, therefore, we meditate until our legs fall off from being asleep for several hours,' Dylan says sarcastically with a smile.

Brenda laughs at him and closes her eyes again. They sit quietly for several minutes, just listening to each other breathing.

Brenda thinks that maybe Iris and Dylan had fallen asleep until she hears him gasp.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 12**_

Brenda opens her eyes quickly to see Dylan's upper body swaying. His eyes are still closed, but his hands had fallen from his knees and were resting on the floor.

'Let her come to you Dylan,' Iris says.

Dylan sees Toni in his dream, except she's not wearing her wedding dress this time. She smiles at him and beckons him to come closer to her. He tries to move but cannot seem to shift his focus closer to her. She sits down on the grass and waits for him to come to her. He struggles to get closer and begins to inch his way toward where she is sitting.

Iris and Brenda watch Dylan as he seems to be completely entranced in what is going on inside of his head. He smiles a little bit and begins to sway less and less.

'This is good, Brenda. Maybe Toni will be able to tell us what's going on,' Iris says.

'I hope so, because this is just getting weirder and weirder,' she says.

Iris and Brenda watch Dylan's movements and try to support his body from falling over as he dreams.

Dylan focuses his attention on Toni completely. He sees her beautiful face smiling at him the way she always did.

'Dylan,' she says. He tries to get closer to her as she speaks.

'I love you,' he hears her say. 'I will always love you.'

Dylan starts to smile and reaches out with his hand to touch her, but doesn't quite reach her.

'Save her, Dylan,' he hears. 'Save her. She's in pain. Save her.'

He tries to speak and finally hears himself say, 'Who? Save who?'

'Save her, Dylan. She's in danger. Save her.'

'Who, Toni? Who are you talking about? Please?!?' he says struggling to get an answer.

'Connect to the strength and save her.'

Toni's image begins to fade away as Dylan reaches out for her. 'No, come back, please don't leave!' he screams. His arms slump back down to his sides and he leans forward with frustration.

Iris and Brenda watch Dylan's movements and hear his words as he talks to Toni's image. They look at each other with confusion as Dylan starts to come out of his dream.

Brenda puts her hand on his arm to steady him as Iris puts her hand on his back to keep him from falling backward.

'Do you think he's alright? Brenda asks Iris.

Dylan stares at the empty blanket in his dream and suddenly hears what he thinks is Brenda's voice.

He looks past the blanket and sees a figure standing in front of a shining light. The figure moves closer and closer to him as he thinks hears Brenda calling his name.

'Bren?' he says out loud.

Brenda and Iris exchange glances as Dylan still has his eyes closed and begins to reach his hands out in front of him and calling her name.

'Brenda, I'm here,' he says to the approaching figure. The light begins to fade and Brenda's image becomes very clear to him.

'Dylan,' the image says, standing in front of him. He reaches out to her and tries to grab her hands. The image of Brenda stands before him wearing a beautiful sundress. Her hair is flowing over her shoulders and she reaches her hands up to take his.

Dylan immediately calms down as the image of Brenda holds his hands in his dream. He relaxes his entire body and tries to keep the moment alive.

'Brenda,' he starts to say.

'Sssh,' the image says. 'Wake up, Dylan. Wake up,' she says.

Brenda and Iris watch Dylan's body relax for a few seconds and then tense up again. They try their best to make sure that he stays upright as he begins to reach out with both hands.

'No, please no,' he says out loud. 'I don't want to. Please don't go,' he begs. He flails his arms in front of him trying to hold on as the image fades from his head.

'Dylan?' Iris says. 'It's time to open your eyes now, Dylan.'

Dylan slowly opens his eyes and immediately locks eyes with Brenda. He almost opens his mouth to say something, but is distracted by Iris trying to pull him to stand up by his arm.

He gets up slowly with their help.

'Now, walk around slowly for a little while to get the blood moving in your legs, okay?' Iris tells him.

He nods and begins to slowly walk around the room. Brenda looks at Iris, who takes her by the hand and leads her to the couch.

'That was interesting,' Iris says, 'and not at all what I expected during his first session.'

Brenda smiles at Iris and squeezes her hand. 'It didn't sound like he learned too much from it though,' Brenda says.

'Give it time, he will,' Iris says with confidence.

Dylan walks around the room, stealing glances at Brenda every chance he gets. He tries to analyze the dream and figure out who Toni could have been talking about, but doesn't get very far before feeling pins and needles in his legs.

'Ah!' he screams out loud and drops to one knee in the kitchen. Brenda gets up off of the couch and runs to him.

'Are you alright?' she asks, leaning down to touch him on the shoulder. He turns his head up to look at her and feels a familiar pull in his chest. Her lips were so close that he could almost feel the magnetism drawing their heads together. She inhales quickly as he stares at her.

'Both of my legs are asleep,' he says wincing again, 'and in pain.'

Brenda and Iris help Dylan over to the couch and help him lie down. He winces several times holding his legs with his hands.

'How was your last rehearsal, Brenda?' Iris asks her.

'Oh, it was fine. You know, with all of the excitement going on around here, I almost forgot that tomorrow is opening night!' Brenda says.

'I am very excited to see your show, Brenda. I hear that you are a fantastic and very talented actress,' Iris says and looks over at Dylan quickly.

Brenda smiles and nods her head a little. 'That's what they tell me anyway,' she says to Iris.

Iris and Brenda walk back over to the couch where Dylan has straightened his body out a little bit.

'Dylan, sweetheart, I'm going to go to bed now. Are you sure you're alright?' Iris asks him.

'Yeah, I'll be fine. Goodnight,' Dylan says through clenched teeth.

Brenda laughs a little and says goodnight to Iris. She sits down on the edge of the couch and puts her hand in his. He immediately grabs her hand and holds it tight and then opens his eyes.

'How are your legs?' she asks him softly.

'They're better than they were 10 minutes ago,' he replies.

She smiles at him and squeezes his hand. 'Can you walk?' she asks him.

'I think so, why?' he asks her with confusion.

'I don't want you to sleep on this couch tonight. You've had quite a day and deserve a good night's sleep without interruption from a lumpy uncomfortable couch,' she tells him.

Dylan slowly lets a smile come across his face. She pulls him up a little with the hand he was holding, trying to get him to sit up on the couch. He slowly sits up and she puts his arm around her shoulder so that she can help him walk.

They walk to her bedroom and she lays him down on one side of the bed. She pulls the covers up around him and leans down to kiss his forehead.

'Try to get some sleep okay?' she says.

'Where are you going?' he asks her.

'I'm just going to run over my lines a few more times. I'll be back in a little while,' she says. He lifts her hand and kisses it.

She smiles and leaves the room.

Dylan makes himself comfortable in her bed by wrapping the covers around himself and putting his face right into her pillow.

Brenda sits on the couch with her script in hand staring at the wall. She watches a tear drop fall from her cheek onto the cover of her script.

Dylan lies awake in Brenda's bed staring at the ceiling. She had left him over two hours ago, saying that she would be back soon. He hadn't heard the apartment door open or close, so she had to be in the apartment somewhere. He decides to get up to see where she was and what she was doing.

He gets up and opens the door to her room. He steps into the hallway, pretending to cross to the bathroom and pokes his head into the living room. He sees her sitting on the couch with her script open on her lap. The small lamp next to her was on, but the rest of the house was dark.

Dylan watches her for a few minutes and when she doesn't move to turn a page, he knows that she had fallen asleep. He walks slowly over to where she is and kneels down in front of her.

He touches her arm softly and whispers, 'Bren?'

She moves her head a little and he hears her mumble, 'Mmmmm?'

'Come to bed,' he says to her.

She nods her head without opening her eyes. He picks up her script and puts it on the table next to her. He grabs her arms and puts them around his neck. She holds on to him as he picks her up and carries her in his arms back to her bed.

She lays her head on his shoulder as he carries her. Dylan immediately feels a warm sensation rush through his chest as she tightens her grip around his neck.

He lays her down on the bed and tries to disentangle himself, but she doesn't let go. He climbs over her onto the other side of the bed and smiles as she cuddles her body as close as she can get to him.

He wraps both arms around her body and kisses the top of her head. He hears her moan under her breath and holds her tighter.

* * * * *

_Casa Walsh – the next day_

Brandon hangs up the phone after talking with Iris. He had wanted to tell Brenda about the FBI involvement, but she had gotten up early to run some errands and Iris had no idea when she would be back.

'She's not there,' Brandon tells the others.

'Well, Christine really wants to talk with her. Maybe you should just give her Brenda's number,' Kelly says.

'I don't know about that. I'd like to warn her first before she gets a phone call from some woman at the FBI,' Brandon says.

'That's probably a good idea,' Valerie says. 'Look, I have some things I need to take care of so I'll see you guys later.'

They all watch as Valerie leaves the house.

'I'm going to take off too, let me know what's going on,' Steve says.

Valerie drives over to Lookout Point and waits with the car off. A few minutes go by and another car pulls up. A man gets out and gets into the car with her.

'Did they find him yet?' he says to her.

'Not yet, but the last note freaked them out so much that they called the FBI. The woman that was working on Jack's case now knows what's going on,' she tells him.

'Shit, I was hoping they wouldn't resort to that so quickly,' he says. 'Has Iris come back from England yet?'

'No, she's still there with Brenda. Apparently, she's seeing some doctor over there about her condition. They scanned the notes to Brenda though, so now she has them, including the one with her name on it,' she says.

'That's good, though, maybe that will help her make the decision to come back easier. I mean, she cares about him right? She'd want to help find him?' he asks.

'From what they tell me, she would do anything for him, but you have to remember that she's been gone for a long time now. She may have had a change of heart,' she says.

'If his mother was invited and is staying with her, I highly doubt that her attitude toward Dylan has changed that much,' he says.

'Yeah, maybe you're right. Don't you have anybody over there that could watch her to see if he was actually there?'

'We're working on it,' he says.

'So, what happens now?' she asks him.

'I'll have to get back to you. If we can find her and the mother, then we may not need anybody else. I'll be in touch,' he says and gets out of the car.

* * * * *

Brenda rolls over onto her side, taking Dylan with her. He had his arm firmly wrapped around her, so every movement she made, he complemented it.

He sighs into her ear and tightens his grip. Brenda sinks her body back into his and closes her eyes again.

Iris puts the phone down after talking with Brandon and stands at the door to Brenda's bedroom. She doesn't hear anything on the other side of the door and hopes that the phone did not wake them up. She smiles to herself, takes a sip from her tea cup, and goes back to the kitchen.

* * * * *

'I'm sorry, I just haven't been able to get a hold of her yet,' Brandon says into the phone.

'Brandon, we can't waste any time here, Brenda and Iris could be in grave danger,' Christine says over the phone.

'I know, I know, but Brenda is acting in a play and tonight is opening night. She left the house early and I don't know when she's going to be back. We may not hear from her until tomorrow. There's nothing I can do about that,' he tells her.

'We need to move quickly to make sure that we can protect them if we need to,' she says.

'I know, I'll keep calling, okay?' he says.

'Okay. Now, we'll be going over to Dylan's house today to see if maybe he left any clues to where he might have gone. Why don't you meet us over there?' she says.

'Okay, I'll meet you there,' he says and hangs up the phone.

'Brandon, what did she say?' Steve asks.

'She really wants to talk to Brenda and her and a team of FBI guys are going to meet me over at Dylan's house to look for clues or something,' he tells him.

'God, I hope they find something. This whole situation is beginning to creep me out a little. I thought that I was being followed yesterday, but I'm sure it's just my paranoia,' Steve says.

'Yeah, I kind of felt the same way,' Brandon says.

'Me too,' Kelly confirms. 'Maybe we are being followed,' she says.

'Well, it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I highly doubt it. I mean, if Toni's family wanted to hurt us or anything they would have done it by now,' Brandon says.

'I don't know, Brandon. Maybe they were waiting until all of the notes were delivered,' Donna says.

'Yeah, but how do they know that we even did anything with them?' he says.

'True,' Steve says.

'Well, I'm going to go over to Dylan's and wait for Christine to show up. Why don't you guys just chill out and watch each other or something,' he says.

They nod and watch him leave the house. He gets in his car and pulls out of the driveway and steers it toward Dylan's house.

He pulls up to see that Christine was already there and waiting for him on the front porch. He gets out and walks up to meet her.

'Hi Brandon,' she says.

'Hi,' he says and uses his key to open the door. Christine and two other guys start looking around Dylan's house.

'I hope you find something, because no one has heard from him and I'm actually kind of scared,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, well, I'm sure no one has found him yet or you guys would not be getting strange notes from the Marchette family,' she says.

She sees one of her guys coming from the back of the house with something in his hand.

'What did you find?' she asks him.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 13**_

Brenda opens her eyes and finds herself staring at a sleeping Dylan. He had his arm around her and seemed to be resting peacefully for the moment. She tries to remember if he had gotten up at all during the night.

'Dylan?' she says softly.

He opens his eyes slowly and turns his head to look at her. 'Hmmmm?'

'How did you sleep?' she asks.

'Fine, just fine,' he says not thinking anything of it.

'You didn't have a nightmare or anything?' she asks him.

He looks around the room for a few seconds trying to remember if he had indeed had a nightmare.

He quickly shakes his head, 'No, I don't think I did.'

Brenda smiles up at him and says, 'Good, that's really good.'

He matches her smile and looks intensely into her eyes. She starts to breathe faster as he closes his hand around her back.

Brenda feels the pull of his stare and tries to come up with a reason why kissing him right now is a bad idea.

'Brenda?' they hear on the other side of the door. Brenda pulls away from Dylan at the sound of Iris' voice and gets out of the bed.

She opens the door and slips out to see what Iris wants.

'Someone is here to see you,' Iris says and points toward the living room.

Brenda goes into the bathroom and washes her face. She brushes her hair out and walks into the living room.

'Paige?' Brenda says when she sees her friend standing in her kitchen with a covered pan in her hands.

'It's opening night right?' Paige says and puts the pan down on the counter and takes off the lid.

Inside the pan was an assortment of homemade cookies and pastries.

'Oh my God, I completely forgot,' Brenda says with her hands over her mouth.

'Forgot what?' Iris asks her, intrigued.

'For every one of my shows, my fantastic friend here bakes me goodies to keep my energy up throughout the day so that I don't fall flat on my face during opening night,' Brenda says.

'You are awesome,' Brenda says and gives Paige a huge hug.

'What are friends for?' Paige replies. 'We got tickets for tonight's show, so we will be there to cheer you on. See you later, sweetie,' she says and hugs Brenda one more time before leaving.

'She is a very nice person,' Iris says. 'She has a good aura.'

Brenda smiles at her. 'Yeah, well, I'm surprised she's being that nice, seeing as how I haven't actually hung out with my friends for a while.'

Iris smiles, continues to drink her tea, and goes back to the book she was reading.

Brenda walks back to her bedroom and takes a deep breath before opening the door. She sees Dylan lying on the bed with his hands tucked up behind his head just staring at the ceiling.

'What did she want?' he asks, without turning his head.

'My friend Paige dropped some cookies and things off for me, since it is opening night,' Brenda says and climbs back into the bed.

'That's right, it is opening night,' Dylan says. 'Do you have any funky actor rituals on opening night?'

'Rituals? Um, no, not really,' Brenda says. 'I like to be at the theatre a few hours before the show starts to just relax and get into character.'

'It takes that long?' he asks her with a smile.

She hits him playfully in the arm as he rolls over quickly to grab her arm. She starts to laugh and puts up a struggle as he tries to hold onto her.

He gets the upper hand and manages to pin her arms down. She gives up slowly, staring into his eyes the entire time. He was lying halfway on top of her, holding her arms above her head.

She feels him loosen his grip on her wrists and relax his arms slightly. They stare at each other for a while, not moving, barely breathing, and trying not to blink.

Dylan moves slowly and starts to kiss her. She doesn't hesitate this time and responds to his touch. He lets go of her wrists and puts his hand on her face to hold her close.

She slowly wraps her arm around his back and rests the other hand on the back of his neck. Dylan continues to kiss her slowly, enjoying the tentativeness of her touch. He deepens the kiss as she positions herself to put one of her legs over his hip.

Dylan puts his arms around her body and lifts her toward him. He captures her leg between his and pulls her closer. She begins to moan into his mouth and he hears her breathing quicken to match his own.

They begin to take each other's clothes off quickly. Brenda keeps her mouth on his for as long as she possibly can. She thinks for a few minutes that she might actually be dreaming, but comes out of her reverie long enough to feel Dylan's mouth on her neck and his hand on her hip.

He looks up at her for a few seconds, taking short quick breaths, trying to make sure that this is what she really wants. She looks back at him, returning his look of longing and nods her head ever so slightly.

He quickly wraps his arms all the way around her body and begins to kiss her hard. They move together in a familiar rhythm holding on to each other as tightly as they can.

Iris looks up from her book toward the bedroom as she begins to hear movement. She smiles to herself and picks up her tarot cards from the table and begins to shuffle them. She cuts the deck and lays the cards out in a Celtic cross pattern.

With each card that Iris lays down on the table the situation and what must happen becomes clearer and clearer. She rests her head on her hand and stares down at the spread. She lets a tear roll down her face and turns her head back toward the bedroom.

She closes her eyes for a few seconds and sighs. She gathers the cards up and stacks them neatly on the table. She takes a sip of her tea and tries to concentrate on the book in front of her when she hears the bedroom door open.

* * * * *

Brandon and Christine look at the map one of the agents handed her.

'There is some kind of route highlighted,' Brandon says, pointing to the map.

'Yeah,' Christine says, 'it runs from the city down to Baja and then east toward the Grand Canyon.'

'Well, I can definitely see Dylan going down to Baja, but we called down to the hotel he usually stays at when Iris first arrived looking for him, and they said that they hadn't seen him,' Brandon tells her.

Christine studies the map a little bit closer. 'Well, it's a start I guess. Maybe he wanted to go down incognito and decided to go somewhere else. Bobby, get someone on the phone and have them follow this trail,' she tells one of the agents.

'Listen, Brandon, why don't you go back home and see if you can get a hold of Brenda again. I'm starting to get more and more nervous about her and Iris being there and not really knowing what's going on. Marchette could have someone over there following them right now,' Christine says.

'Don't you have people over there too?' he asks her.

'Yeah, we do and I'm waiting to hear whether or not the agent has located Brenda and Iris, but until then you have to try to warn her. She shouldn't be going anywhere alone,' she tells him.

'Okay, I'll try again. I'll leave a few messages and hopefully she'll get them,' he says and begins to leave Dylan's house.

'Good luck, Brandon. I'll let you know as soon as we have any more information,' she says.

Brandon nods and leaves the house.

* * * * *

Dylan walks back into the bedroom from the bathroom and sees Brenda lying on her side staring at him.

He kneels down at the bedside and puts his hand on hers. She smiles at him and he leans in to kiss her.

'I really missed you, Bren,' he whispers.

'Me too, Dylan,' she replies.

'I'm going to go check on Mom,' he says and kisses her forehead. She nods at him and watches him leave the room.

Brenda sits up in her bed and lets out a long sigh. She gets up and puts her clothes on. She stands in front of the mirror staring at her reflection.

'I can't believe you did that,' she says to the mirror. She looks away from her reflection with a little bit of disappointment. She leaves the room and goes to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

'Good morning,' Iris says from the kitchen table.

'Good morning again,' Brenda says with a smile.

'So, today is the big day, huh? Are you nervous?' Iris asks her.

Brenda thinks about it for a few seconds and then shakes her head.

'Not really, I'm ready for this,' Brenda says with confidence, sipping her coffee.

'Brenda, your brother called earlier. He really wanted to talk to you, but it was so early in the morning and I figured that I'd let you sleep for a while,' Iris tells her.

'Oh, okay, thanks,' Brenda says and joins Dylan on the couch.

'What time do you have to be at the theatre?' Dylan asks her.

'I'll probably head down there around 6,' she tells him.

Brenda, Dylan, and Iris all turn their heads toward the door as they hear loud knocking. They all look back at each other and then Brenda gets up to answer the door.

'Beau, what are you doing here?' she asks him.

'Brenda, can I come in? I wanted to apologize for my behavior at the park,' he says, looking down at the ground.

Brenda steps aside and lets him in to the apartment. Beau moves to stand in between Brenda and Dylan, looking back and forth between them.

'Look, I'm really sorry about the way I acted in the park. I don't know what came over me,' he says.

He looks straight at Brenda and says, 'I guess I just wanted to protect you in some way from getting hurt by your old friends again.'

'That's really sweet, Beau, thank you for your concern,' Brenda says.

'Well, I just wanted to say that and break a leg tonight. I have a performance tonight, so I can't come to the show, but I'll be there tomorrow night, okay?' he says with a smile.

Brenda smiles back and nods at him. He moves to give her a hug and she hugs him back.

'It was nice seeing you again, Dylan,' he says and leaves the apartment.

Iris stares at the door as Beau leaves. 'There's something not right about the boy,' she says firmly.

Brenda turns to look at Iris. 'He's a little, um,' Brenda pauses to find the right word when Dylan pipes up.

'Jealous and angry with himself,' he finishes for her.

'Why?' Iris asks.

'Well, I suspect that he's in love with Brenda and he never told her that nor did he make any moves on her to indicate that he wanted something more than friendship. So, when I showed up, he was kicking himself for moving too slow,' Dylan says matter-of-factly.

Brenda starts to laugh and shakes her head. 'That is probably exactly right,' she says.

'That still doesn't explain the fact that he definitely has a dark cloud following him around,' Iris says and goes back to reading her book.

Brenda and Dylan look at each other and smirk. Brenda walks back over to the couch and sits down with him.

'A dark cloud, huh?' she whispers to him. 'I wonder what I have following me around,' she says.

Dylan smiles brightly at her. 'Let's find out,' he says and starts to get up. She grabs his arm and pulls him back down onto the couch.

They laugh with each other and look over at Iris, who is staring intently down at her book.

* * * * *

Brandon paces back and forth while talking to Christine on the phone.

'Well, I have made contact with the agent in London. He has just arrived and will be trying to get into contact with Brenda and Iris shortly,' she tells him.

Brandon lets out a sigh of relief. 'That's great news. I'm going to call again here in a few minutes and see if I can get her on the phone. Will this guy identify himself to her or what?'

'That all depends on the situation, Brandon. Let's hope he doesn't have to, just tell her the situation and that we have agents over there monitoring what is going on,' Christine says.

'Okay, I will. I'll give her your phone number too,' he says.

'Good, tell her that I am eagerly anticipating her call,' Christine says.

Brandon hangs up and dials Brenda's cell phone number right away.

'Hello?' Brenda says.

'Brenda, thank God,' he says.

'Brandon, are you alright?' Brenda asks him.

'I am, but you and Iris may not be. Listen to me very carefully. The situation has gotten out of control and we pulled the trump card and called the FBI,' Brandon says slowly.

'The FBI? Why did you call the FBI?' Brenda says. Dylan and Iris turn their heads quickly in Brenda's direction as she talks to Brandon on the phone.

'Brenda, the Marchette family is not one to screw around with and right after we got the note with your name on it, we all felt as if we were being followed wherever we went,' Brandon explains.

'You and Iris may be in danger and the FBI is concerned enough about it that they have agents over there monitoring the situation,' he says.

'Are you kidding me?' Brenda says nervously.

'No, I am not kidding you. We are not concerned about finding Dylan anymore and the FBI agrees that it's a real possibility that the target has switched from him to you,' Brandon tells her.

'Don't leave your house alone, don't talk to anyone who might look suspicious and for God's sake, please don't put yourself in a situation that could get you in trouble,' he says.

'Brandon, why would they be after me? I don't think that's what the notes meant,' Brenda tells him.

'Maybe not Bren, but they may be trying to use you and Iris as bait to get Dylan to come out of the woodwork,' he says.

'I'll keep that in mind, Brandon,' she says.

'Listen, I'm going to give you Christine's number at the FBI. Please, please, please call her right away. She'll be able to give you more information and tell you how dangerous this really is,' he says.

'Okay, Brandon, fine, I'll call her, but I think you're all worried over nothing,' she says.

Brenda takes down the number and hands it straight to Dylan.

'I have to go and get ready for the show tonight,' she tells him.

'Brenda, please be careful,' Brandon says with a hitch in his throat. Brenda hears his voice crack a little.

'Brandon,' she says softly, 'it's going to be okay. Don't worry about us. We'll be fine.'

Brenda hangs up the phone and stares at Dylan.

'He called Christine at the FBI to tell her about the notes and how scared he was that the situation was getting out of control,' Brenda says.

Dylan looks at her with a confused look on his face.

'He thinks that they'll come after me and Iris in order to get to you. He wants me to call her right away to get more information,' she tells him.

'Maybe you should,' he says and hands the number back to her.

Brenda nods and dials the number Brandon gave her.

'Christine, this is Brenda Walsh, Brandon asked me to call you,' she says when a woman answers.

'Oh, Brenda, thank you so much for calling. We are all really worried about you,' Christine says.

'Why? Did something else happen?'

'Brenda, you and Iris are very vulnerable right now. For some reason, the Marchette family has latched on to the fact that you are connected with Dylan and may be the only source of finding him,' she says.

Brenda looks over at Dylan as Christine is talking with a worried look on her face.

'We haven't figured out what they want yet, but I think all of us would feel safer if you were closer so that we could keep an eye on you,' she says.

'Look, I have a job to do here and I'm not going to just get up and leave. There has to be another way of working this out,' she says.

'I'm going to give you an emergency number. Put it on speed dial so that if you see anything suspicious or get yourself into a situation that you can't handle, you can call and let us know,' she says.

'Okay, fine, but I'm sure that won't be necessary,' Brenda says.

She gets off of the phone with Christine and looks from Dylan to Iris.

'She really thinks that something is going to happen to us,' Brenda says to Iris. 'They really think that you're still the target, Dylan and that someone is just going to use us to get to you.'

'Damn it,' Dylan says loudly and begins to pace through the living room. 'What are we going to do?'

'I still don't understand what they could possibly want with you? I mean, haven't they taken enough?' Brenda says without thinking.

She sits down on one of the chairs at the table. Iris puts her hand on Brenda's shoulder.

'Dylan, come here and sit down, please,' Iris says calmly.

He walks over to the table slowly and grabs his mother's outstretched hand. He sits next to her and looks over at Brenda.

'It's time to move on, Dylan. There are too many parties here that know too much, especially the fact that I'm here with Brenda. If the FBI and Toni's family are both looking for us, this will find us. You can't be around when they do,' Iris says.

'Mom, I'm not going to leave you guys alone,' Dylan says firmly.

'You don't have a choice, sweetheart. If we even have a slight chance to figure out what all of this means, we have to take it, which means, you can't be found. Once they find you, the game is over,' she says.

'Whatever happens to us, whatever you might hear, you have to ignore it. Now, go pack,' Iris says and urges him to get up.

Dylan opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

'Dylan,' Brenda says softly. He turns to look at her with sadness and fear in his eyes. 'Go,' she almost whispers.

He moves slowly across the apartment, leaving Iris and Brenda at the table.

'Brenda, something is definitely going to happen. I can't tell whether it's good or bad, but something's coming,' Iris says and stares down at the deck of cards.

'We have to be strong for Dylan's sake and we'll all come out of this fine,' she says.

Brenda just nods her head with tears in her eyes. She grabs Iris' hand and puts her head on the table.

Dylan comes out from the bedroom with his bag in one hand and his helmet in the other.

Brenda looks up and sees him standing by the door.

Iris gets up from the table and walks over to her son.

'Be safe sweetheart. Get as far away from here as you possibly can,' she says.

Dylan lets out a breath and hugs his mother. 'I'm going to figure this out, Mom. I'm going to find out what the hell they want,' he says firmly.

Brenda walks over to where Dylan is standing. He immediately wraps both arms around her body and holds her tight.

'It's going to be okay, Bren. We're going to get through this,' he says.

Brenda nods her head into his shoulder and tries to hold back the tears.

'Dylan, don't tell anyone where you're going. I don't ever want them to find you,' she says.

He nods his head slightly and kisses her. He grabs his bag and slowly walks out of the apartment.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 14**_

Brenda walks out of her bedroom with a bag in her hand. She walks over to where Iris is sitting on the couch.

'Don't you think you should come with me to the theatre now? I'm not sure I want you to walk there alone, Iris,' Brenda says.

'I'll be fine, Brenda, really, it's only a few blocks,' she says.

'Well, at least let me call Paige to come and walk over with you?' Brenda asks with hopefulness.

Iris smiles and her and slowly nods her head.

Brenda calls her friend and asks her to come over and walk Iris over to the theatre.

'Sure, no problem, Brenda,' Paige says.

'Great, thank you so much,' Brenda says and hangs up the phone.

There is a knock at the door and Brenda walks quickly to answer it. She opens the door and sees the stage manager for the show standing in front of her apartment.

'Hi Dave, I'll be right out,' she says.

'Okay Iris, my escort is here,' Brenda says and kisses Iris on the forehead. 'I will see you in a little while.'

'Okay, dear,' Iris says with a smile.

Brenda walks out of the apartment with Dave at her side.

'Thanks for coming to get me, Dave. I know you must be really busy preparing for the show,' she says.

'Yeah, well, I needed a break anyway,' he says. 'Is there a particular reason you wanted someone to walk you down there?'

'Um, nothing specific,' she says, 'I guess I was kind of nervous, since I was stopped outside the theatre by some crazy fan yesterday. It just helps to have some company.'

Brenda looks at Dave to see whether or not he really believes her, but he just nods his head as they approach the theatre.

Brenda looks around for anyone looking suspicious, but doesn't recognize anything out of the ordinary. She thanks Dave again and almost runs into the theatre and back to her dressing room.

Iris stands in the bathroom putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she hears a knock at the door. She moves through the apartment quickly to open it.

Paige, Wyatt, and Brent are all standing on the other side when she opens the door.

'Hi, this is Wyatt and Brent,' Paige introduces them.

'It's very nice to meet you,' Iris says. 'Just let me grab my bag and I'll be ready to go,' she says.

She walks back to the bedroom and picks up her purse. She feels her heartbeat quicken as she bends down to pick it up. She stands up slowly and puts her hand to her chest.

Her heartbeat begins to slow back down and she moves to the living room to meet up with Brenda's friends.

'Shall we?' Paige says.

'Yes, let's go,' Iris says. They walk out of the apartment and down the street to the theatre.

'I thought Dylan would be coming with us?' Paige asks her.

'Oh, well,' Iris starts to say, 'he left earlier to take care of a few things and Brenda was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the theatre.'

Paige smiles at her as they walk.

'Have you seen many of Brenda's performances?' Iris asks them.

'Actually, I think we've seen them all since she's been here,' Wyatt says. 'She's very talented and every show she's been in has been wonderful.'

'This is my first time seeing her perform,' Iris tells them.

'Oh, well then, you are going to have the evening of a lifetime,' Brent says.

* * * * *

'Do you think we're ever going to find Dylan?' Steve asks the girls.

'Of course we will, or someone will. He can't be that far away,' Valerie says.

'Oh, please, by now he could be anywhere. He doesn't have anything tying him down to this place anymore and the only family he has around was in Hawaii and is now in London with Brenda,' Kelly says.

'Do you think that he might actually show up in London at some point?' Steve says.

'I've thought about that too. Does anyone even know if they were on speaking terms over the last few years? I mean, I've never heard him talk about her,' Donna says.

'Who knows? It's definitely a possibility that he would end up there, the question is why hasn't he already? What's taking him so long?' Kelly says.

'Maybe he has and she's been lying to us the whole time,' Steve suggests.

'Why would she do that? She doesn't know that we have ulterior motives here,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, but she was definitely surprised when Brandon called her and she was a little leery on the phone when I talked to her about coming back,' Donna says.

'When you talked to her she had been drinking, so it could have just been that,' Steve says.

'If I were her, I'd be kind of suspicious about this whole thing. I know that I haven't really talked to her since she's been there, have any of you?' Kelly asks and looks around the room.

'No, not really, she called me once about a year or so ago,' Donna says.

'I thought Brandon was calling her all of the time?' Steve asks.

'Steve, please, where have you been? They haven't been speaking to each other for like six or seven months until now,' Kelly says.

'Wait, what did I miss? Did I miss something?' Steve asks.

'Oh, my God, you are so dense,' Valerie says, leaning her head on her hand.

Donna and Kelly start to laugh at Steve.

'Come on, tell me what happened, what did I miss here?' he pleads.

'It happened right before Dylan was getting married. I guess Brandon thought that Brenda would be better off if she just stopped waiting for Dylan to come back to her. I think he always knew that Brenda had kept the door open for him, just in case, you know?' Kelly says.

'He was trying to figure out a way to break the news to her and let her know at the same time that she needed to suck it up and move on with her life. Dylan was getting married and that was the end of the story,' she continues.

'Yeah, so he came to us asking for ideas on how to go about letting Brenda know what was going on,' Valerie pipes in.

'We sat down with him for a long time trying to figure out what to do. We gave him several opinions on what we thought was the best way to break the news to her, but he rejected them all. At the end of the night, he just threw his hands up and said that he would figure out the best way to tell her on his own,' Kelly says.

'He didn't say another word about it and a little while after the wedding I asked him how he did it,' Valerie tells them.

Kelly puts her head down and starts to shake it as Valerie speaks.

'What? How did he do it?' Steve asks, looking from Valerie to Kelly.

'Well,' Kelly starts, 'he basically laid down the law. He was rude and condescending and an all-around jerk to her on the phone one day. Of course, she was mad and upset with him for treating her like dirt, but according to him it was all part of his plan.'

'After that phone call, he waited until the wedding was really close and then called her and left her a horribly insensitive and rude answering machine message. He basically told her in no uncertain terms to forget about all of us, since we've forgotten about her and with Dylan getting married to someone else, there was no reason for her to even be involved with anything going on back here,' Kelly says slowly.

'What? Why would he do that? We didn't forget about her. We asked about her all the time,' Steve says.

'Brandon, in his infinite wisdom, decided that she needed to be slapped in the face in order to move on and get over Dylan,' Valerie says.

'So, he decided to sacrifice himself and his relationship with her in order to achieve that goal. In all honesty, he really thought that it was in her best interest to just get over it quickly. He wanted her to go back to being the Brenda he remembered and the sister he loved,' Kelly says.

'I had no idea,' Steve says.

'Neither did we, until we asked him about how he did it and he cried the whole time he was telling us,' Valerie says.

'He needs to tell her the truth,' Donna says. 'That was a really bad way of handling that situation. He should have known better. I don't think Brenda will ever get over Dylan.'

'Well, we all know that, and he should have known that, but he was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him from trying to save her,' Kelly says.

'That's really sad,' Steve says. 'I mean, Brenda and I haven't always gotten along, but to have your brother, the one that you trust the most, hurt you like that must have been really painful for her to deal with on her own. I can't imagine how she dealt with Brandon treating her like that on top of the fact that Dylan was getting married. That must have made it like a thousand times worse.'

The gang looks around at each other with solemn faces.

'We should have called her sooner,' Valerie says. 'I feel really guilty about that now.'

Kelly nods her head and looks up at Valerie.

* * * * *

Iris sits in the audience with Brenda's friends watching her on perform. She is taken aback by what a brilliant actress Brenda really is and becomes a little sad that Dylan couldn't be there to see her.

At intermission, Iris goes outside the theatre to get some air and stands by the door talking with Brenda's friends.

She looks up suddenly at the sound of a motorcycle speeding by the front of the theatre and feels a jolt in her chest.

'Iris, are you alright?' Paige asks her as she sees Iris quickly put a hand up to her chest.

'Oh, yes, I'm fine. It's probably just a little indigestion or something,' she says and goes back into the theatre.

Iris sits through the second act of the play nervously playing with the strap on her purse. The play ends to thunderous applause which seems to get impossibly louder when Brenda takes her bow.

Brenda stands up and smiles as the cast bows together and then makes their off of the stage as the house lights come up.

Brenda walks back to the dressing room and changes her clothes. She washes her face and takes all of the stage makeup off as quickly as she can. She doesn't want to leave Iris out in the auditorium for too long by herself.

'Congratulations, Brenda, fantastic job out there tonight,' Dave comes by and tells her.

'Thanks, Dave,' she says with a smile and grabs her bag.

Brenda wades her way through the crowd of people that have gathered outside of the dressing room door. She immediately looks for her friends and Iris, but doesn't see them. She continues down the hallway slowly, weaving in and out of the crowd.

She gets to the stage and looks out in the audience to see if Iris was waiting for her. She doesn't see her anywhere inside the building and starts to get a nervous feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She walks up the aisle to the front of the theatre and searches the people standing in the lobby.

She walks out the front doors to the theatre and hears Paige yelling her name.

'Brenda!' Paige yells with urgency.

Brenda turns slowly in the direction of Paige's voice. She sees Paige, Brent, and Wyatt running toward her out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly feels her heart sink when she does not see Iris with them.

'You were so great in this play. This is the best one yet,' Paige says and hugs her.

'Where is Iris?' Brenda says firmly.

'She said she needed to go to the ladies room, so we told her that we'd meet her out here,' Paige tells her.

Brenda nods her head and looks around at her friends. 'I'll be right back, okay?'

She makes her way back inside and almost runs to the bathroom. She opens the door and yells Iris' name.

'Are you in here?' she says louder.

She hears the main door open behind her and sees a tall man standing in the doorway.

'This is the ladies room, the men's room is next door,' Brenda tells him.

'I didn't come in here to use the bathroom, Ms. Walsh,' the man says as the door closes behind him.

* * * * *

'Brandon has been gone for a long time, anyone know when he's going to be back?' Donna asks.

'Why don't we call him and see where he is,' Steve says and picks up the phone. He dials Brandon's number and waits.

'He's not answering,' Steve tells them. As Steve puts the phone down the gang hears the front door open.

'We're in the kitchen Brandon,' Kelly yells.

Valerie turns her body and looks toward the foyer. She gasps loudly as a large hand shoves a cloth over her mouth. She breathes in and everything goes black.

'Down on the ground, all of you, right now!' they hear one of the men yell.

Steve, Donna, and Kelly slowly lay down on the ground. The men surround them and start to tie their hands behind their backs.

One of the guys pulls Steve's head up by his hair and yells 'Where's the Walsh guy?'

Steve doesn't answer and yelps when his head is pulled back farther.

'Where is he? Is he upstairs?' he yells.

Steve tries to shake his head. 'He's not here. He didn't say where he was going,' he says quickly.

'Yeah, somehow I doubt that. Well, it doesn't matter anyway,' he says. He looks up at the other guys and nods.

One by one they are brought to their feet and guided out of the back door. One of the men picks up Valerie's body and carries her out the door. They are all led to a black van and thrown inside.

* * * * *

Brenda slowly backs away from the man standing in front of her.

'I'm not going to hurt you. My name is John Granger, I work for the FBI,' he says slowly. He puts his hand into his pocket and shows her his badge.

One of the stall doors opens slowly and Brenda turns her head to see Iris holding on to the latch.

She looks pale and her eyes have sunken into her head a little bit. She puts her hand out to Brenda, who runs to her and grabs her arm.

'Oh my God, Iris, are you alright? What happened?' Brenda asks her.

John walks over to where they are standing.

'I presume you're Dylan's mother?' he asks her. Iris nods her head as Brenda helps her over to the sink.

She splashes some water on her face and looks into the mirror.

'Brenda, something terrible has happened. All of a sudden I started to feel nauseas and felt this enormous pressure in my chest,' Iris says slowly.

'Ladies, this is not a safe place for you to be. There are several people milling around watching your every move. We need to leave this building quickly, quietly, and without being seen,' John says.

'My friends are waiting outside for me,' Brenda says.

'Tell them you have to take care of Iris or something, but get rid of them,' John says.

Brenda nods and leaves the bathroom. She runs out front to where her friends are waiting.

'Sorry guys, Iris is not feeling well and she's been throwing up. I have to take care of her, so you guys go on ahead to the pub and I'll meet up with you later, okay?' Brenda says quickly.

'Oh, is she alright? She started to get antsy toward the end of the play,' Paige says.

'It's probably a stomach bug or something, I'm sure she'll be fine once I get her back to my apartment. I'll see you guys later, okay?' Brenda says.

They all nod at her and start walking across the street to the pub. Brenda turns around to head back inside when someone grabs her arm. She jerks her head around quickly and comes face to face with Beau.

'Brenda, how was the show? Sorry I missed it,' he says.

She pulls her arm out of his hand and stares at him.

'Beau, I don't have time to talk right now. Everyone just went across the street, why don't you join them?' she says and goes back into the theatre.

She enters the bathroom to find Iris with her head in her hands leaning against the counter.

'Okay, they're gone,' she says to John.

'Follow me,' he says and starts to walk out of the bathroom.

'Come on, Iris, let me steady you. We have to get out of here,' she says. Brenda puts her arm around Iris and guides her out of the bathroom.

They follow John to the back of the theatre and exit the building into the alleyway. He takes them around the block and down a few more alleyways until they finally reach Brenda's apartment.

They go inside quickly and lock the door.

'Don't turn on any lights that aren't on already,' John says. He quickly walks through the apartment to make sure there is no one hiding out.

Brenda sits Iris on the couch and gets her a glass of water.

'Brenda, something is not right. It's not supposed to be this way. Whatever is happening shouldn't be happening. We did something wrong, maybe we missed a clue,' Iris starts to say quickly.

'Iris, it's okay. First we need to figure out why you're feeling like this. I'm here, you're here, the FBI is here, so we're okay for now,' she says.

'It's not about us,' Iris says clearly. She stares at the floor for a while and then looks up slowly at Brenda.

'If it's not us, it's your brother or,' Iris stops as she sees John come back into the room.

'The house is clear. I'm sorry to have cornered you in the bathroom, but the situation at the theatre did not look good. I usually don't come in contact with my targets unless absolutely necessary,' he tells Brenda.

'You and Iris are definitely being followed. I'm not sure who is who yet, but there seems to be a big interest in where you go and who you are with,' he continues.

He pulls out a phone and dials a number.

'Yes, I've made contact. It was unavoidable. Minimum three. Negative. Yes, sir,' John says into the phone and hangs it up.

'We have to move,' he says. 'Pack a very small bag with essentials only. You have 10 minutes,' he says and stands in the middle of the living room.

Brenda looks at him and back to Iris.

'What do you need that you don't have in your purse already?' Brenda asks her.

'My cards, Brenda, they are on the table. I also have a small bag on the nightstand next to the bed that I need,' she says.

Brenda walks around the apartment collecting Iris' things. She goes into her bedroom and grabs her phone charger, her emergency money, and her passport.

She walks back out to the living room and hands Iris her bag and the cards.

Brenda puts her things in her shoulder bag and goes to the bookshelf to grab the Byron poetry book. She shoves it in the bag and looks back at John.

'Okay,' she tells him.

'Good, let's go. My car is parked down the street,' he says.

Brenda helps Iris up and looks around as they leave her apartment.

'I can't believe this is happening,' she says.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 15**_

Valerie struggles to open her eyes. The room spins a little as she tries to adjust to the low light. She tries to move her arms put they are chained to the wall above her head.

'Val?' she hears Donna's voice. 'Are you alright?'

Valerie turns her head in the direction of Donna's voice and tries to focus on the blur in front of her.

Her eyes finally adjust and she sees Donna, Kelly, and Steve with their arms over their heads, also chained to the wall.

'Where are we?' Valerie asks.

'We don't know. They blindfolded us while we were in the van,' Steve says. 'I'm going to take a wild guess though and say this dungeon belongs to someone whose name starts with an 'M'.'

Valerie turns her head slowly toward the sound of a door opening. She looks toward the corner of the room and sees a familiar face coming toward her. Two other men stand at the doorway with their arms folded across their chests.

The man walks directly to Valerie and unlocks her arms from the chains. He helps her up and walks her out of the room.

'Hey, wait, what's going on? Who are you? Where are we? Where are you taking her?' Steve starts to yell.

Kelly, Donna, and Steve hear the door close and lock and then the muffled sound of Valerie's voice.

* * * * *

John drives for a few hours north of the city. He pulls the car into a very long driveway leading up to a country house.

'This is a safe house,' he tells them. He shuts the car off and gets out. He stands next to the car for a few seconds until he sees someone come out of the front door.

'John, did you get them safely?' the man asks him.

'Yes sir,' he says and turns to open the back door to let Brenda and Iris out of the car.

'Were you followed at any point during the trip?'

'No sir,' John replies.

Brenda steps out and helps Iris.

'Ms. Walsh, Mrs. McKay, please, come inside,' the man says and walks back into the house.

John waits for Brenda and Iris to walk in front of him and follows them inside.

Brenda looks around the house as they walk in. There is very little furniture scattered throughout the first floor, with makeshift tables chairs strewn in each room.

'Please sit down. Can I get you anything?' the man asks them.

Brenda shakes her head. 'I don't need anything right now, except to know what the hell is going on,' she says.

The man smiles at her and nods his head.

'Of course, my name is Jerry, I also work for the FBI, as does everyone else you see in this house,' he begins.

'We've been asked to provide protection for you and Mrs. McKay in the event that the Marchette family comes looking for you, which I am led to believe here by John that they have already come looking,' Jerry says as John nods his head.

'For some reason, they feel the need to prey on you, your family, and your friends. We have been unsuccessful in determining the motive behind these actions,' he says.

'What do you mean prey on us?' Brenda asks him.

'Last night at approximately 11pm Pacific Time, several people were removed from the Walsh residence in Beverly Hills and driven to a remote location,' Jerry says.

'Oh my God, Brandon!' Brenda blurts out.

'Your brother was not in the house at the time of the abduction,' he tells her.

Iris puts her hand up to her chest and start breathing quickly. 'That must have been it, Brenda. That must have been what I was feeling. That wasn't supposed to happen. No one else was supposed to be involved in this,' Iris says.

'What is she talking about?' Jerry says slowly, eyeing Iris from head to toe.

'She's talking about what the tarot cards and runes have been revealing over the last week or so. Apparently the cards did not foresee an abduction of any kind,' Brenda explains.

Jerry and John slowly nod their heads and just stare at Iris.

'If Brandon wasn't in the house, where was he?' Brenda asks.

'He was at Dylan's house with the FBI agents,' Jerry explains.

Brenda's phone starts to ring and she jumps a foot backwards as the vibration scares her. She breathes a sigh of relief and pulls the phone from her pocket.

'Who is it?' Jerry asks her firmly.

'It's Brandon,' she stammers.

'Answer it on speakerphone,' he says.

Brenda turns the speakerphone on and says, 'Brandon?'

'Brenda, this whole thing is getting worse by the second. Marchette is definitely behind this. I went over to Dylan's house with Christine to look for clues as to where he might be. When I got back the doors were open and Donna, Kelly, Valerie, and Steve were gone. They were here waiting for me to get back and no one has seen or heard from them since I left,' he says.

'Oh my God,' she says, feigning surprise as she sees Jerry urging her to play along.

'I'm not sure what's going on, Bren, but from the look of the house when I got home, it doesn't look like they left quietly. It definitely looks like they've been taken,' Brandon says.

'Taken?' Brenda asks him.

'Listen, one of Christine's agents found map in Dylan's trash. The map shows a route from California to Baja and then out to somewhere around the Grand Canyon. They are checking it out right now. I'm not sure what's going on, but all I know is that it's gotten worse over the last 24 hours. I think we were all being followed for last week or so and all I know right now is that I'm alone,' he says.

Jerry writes on a piece of paper as Brenda is listening to Brandon talk. He slides the paper over to her and nods his head.

She looks down at the paper and reads it quickly.

'Brandon, you've got to get out of there. They could be watching you right now. You have to leave the house now. Do you have anywhere to go?' she says.

'I'm not in the house, Bren, but I'm not sure where to go. If they're already watching me, it really doesn't matter where I am when they find me. Don't worry, I'll figure it out and find some way of letting you know. Look, I have to go. I'll be in touch,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda hangs up her phone and looks from Jerry to John.

Jerry calls an agent into the room and tells her to get into contact with Christine back in the states to make sure that she knows that Brandon is now on the run.

'Shouldn't she know that already? I mean, won't they be looking for Brandon too? How did you know about the abduction? How do you not know where my friends were taken?' Brenda starts firing questions at them.

'Ms. Walsh, please, there just some things that I can't tell you,' Jerry answers her.

Brenda huffs at him, puts her arms across her chest, and stares out the window.

* * * * *

Brandon makes his way over to the Peach Pit and goes inside quickly.

He explains quickly a general idea of what has been happening to Nat.

'Look, call this number and talk to Christine at the FBI. After you've called, burn this somewhere so that no one will know who you called. I'm taking off for a little while to see if I can find out where they are hiding Kelly, Donna, Steve, and Valerie. Let Christine know what's happened and that I've warned Brenda and Iris, and I'll find some way to get in touch with her,' Brandon explains.

'Brandon, please be careful. Is there anything else I can do for you?' Nat says.

'Not right now, Nat. Thanks,' Brandon says and leaves.

Nat calls the number on the paper and identifies himself to the woman that answers the phone.

'Brandon just rushed in here and told me to call and let you know what just happened,' Nat begins.

'Thank you Mr. Bussichio, but we already know about it,' Christine tells him. 'Where is Brandon now?'

'He just left and he didn't say where he was going. How do you already know?' he asks her.

'Our agents were a little behind and didn't get a chance to catch the abductors before they left the Walsh house. Brandon was with me and the other agents at Dylan's house, so I didn't know about it until after he left,' she explains.

'Well, he was just here at the Peach Pit a few minutes ago, so he couldn't have gone that far,' Nat tells her.

'Thank you for the information,' she says. 'Please let us know if you see anything suspicious. Someone may have been following him.'

'Okay,' Nat says and hangs up the phone.

He burns the paper with Christine's phone number on it and begins to walk back to the kitchen to lock up when he hears loud noises coming from the alleyway.

He runs quickly to the back door and opens it slowly to see what was going on.

* * * * *

Valerie is led to a room with wall to wall bookshelves and only one chair with a lamp next to it. The two thugs leave and close the door behind them. Valerie turns her head to meet the stare of the man she recognized as her contact.

'Are you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?' he asks her.

Valerie shakes her head and rubs her wrists. 'What is going on? When did kidnapping become part of this whole plan?' she says with an attitude.

'It wasn't my idea. Progress was moving slow and when I told him about the involvement of the FBI, the stakes got higher and he wanted more,' the man tells her.

'There is no plan right now to hurt anyone, just scare some people enough to bring us all together,' he says.

'Us? Who is 'us'?' Valerie asks him.

'Our guy in London has informed us that the FBI got to Brenda and Iris before he could,' he tells her.

'Did they see any signs of Dylan?' Valerie asks.

'No, no signs of Dylan, but there wasn't really a whole lot of time to look for him or signs that he had been there. With all of you missing and the soon to be abducted Brandon in custody, they will have no choice but to bring Brenda and Iris back to the states for bartering purposes,' he says with a smile.

'Which was the whole point in the first place,' Valerie finishes for him.

'Exactly,' he says with a smile. 'I'm not sure how long it's going to take, but I promise nothing bad will happen to you. I'm sure you'll be joined by Brandon soon enough,' he says.

Valerie nods her head. 'Nothing changes between us though, right? I mean, the plan changed, but it wasn't my fault,' she says, nervously.

'Don't worry, you'll get what was promised to you,' he says with a smile and puts his hand up to her cheek. 'Now, you know what I have to do right? Can't have you going back down there looking like that,' he says and looks her up and down.

Valerie lets out a short, quick breath and slowly closes her eyes.

'Ready?' he asks her. She nods her head and squeezes her eyes as tightly as she can.

She feels an intense sting and then the slow-building feeling of pain as his hand whips across her face. He hits her one more time quickly on the same cheek and she thinks he may have broken her cheek bone. The tears fall from her eyes as the two thugs are called back into the room.

'Bring her back down,' the man says firmly and waves his hand at them.

* * * * *

Nat opens the alleyway door slowly and pokes his head outside and looks around. He doesn't see anything and whatever was making the loud noises was no longer there. He shrugs his shoulders and walks back into the diner.

* * * * *

Brenda paces the floor of one of the bedrooms in the safe house. Iris sits on a chair in the room shuffling her tarot cards.

'Iris, are you feeling any better?' Brenda asks her.

'A little, Brenda, but I still have a terrible ache in my chest. I need to figure out what is going on. Look, I'm in no shape to be asking the cards any questions right now,' she says and hands the deck to Brenda.

'Think of a question you want answered. Try not to complicate it by thinking of too many things at once, just try to focus on one thing and shuffle, okay?' Iris tells her.

Brenda nods and sits on the floor. She starts to think about the most important thing, shuffles the cards several times with her eyes closed and then hands them back to Iris.

Iris asks her to cut the deck and then starts laying out cards on the floor.

* * * * *

Dylan sits on the airplane trying to calm himself down enough to get some sleep. He drifts off peacefully and starts to see images of Brenda, Iris, and Toni moving through his mind. He tries to focus on Toni and bring her to the forefront. He starts talking to her in his head, pleading with her to tell him what is going on and how he can fix it.

Toni's image stops and smiles at him. 'Dylan,' she says.

Dylan immediately calms at the sound of her voice.

'Use the strength, use the strength and save her,' Toni says.

'What strength? I don't have any strength. Please help me,' he says.

Toni smiles again and turns her head. He follows her gaze as it lands on the image of Brenda.

'Use the strength,' Toni says again.

Dylan stares at the image of Brenda in his mind. He remembers the words Iris said as she was explaining the meaning of the symbols.

'…_the Strength symbol, which besides a great inner strength, also means force of will and determination… represents strength, reliability, and dependability.'_

'Brenda? Use Brenda to save who? I don't know who I'm supposed to save,' Dylan says impatiently.

'Use the strength, follow the path and save her,' Toni says with a bright smile and fades from his mind.

Brenda and Iris' images come to the forefront of his mind. They stare back at him with smiles on their faces. Brenda's smile lights up her eyes, which are softly looking back at him.

'Follow the path, Dylan, follow the path and you will find it,' Brenda's image says softly.

Dylan's body jerks violently as he opens his eyes to see the plane vibrating.

'We are experiencing some turbulence, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts,' he hears over the intercom.

* * * * *

Brenda listens as Iris begins to explain the cards lying on the floor.

'You asked about Dylan, didn't you?' Iris asks her.

Brenda looks up at her and nods her head. 'I had to,' she says quietly.

'Well, it's a little clouded, but he's definitely taking another journey to somewhere. He'll have some help along the way, but there are many more obstacles in his way this time and a few bad people he will try to overcome, but may fail,' Iris says.

Brenda sighs and stares down at the cards. 'Iris, we have to get out of here. We're not doing any good just sitting here waiting,' Brenda says.

'The closer we get to Beverly Hills the more danger we will be in,' Iris says. 'I'm not sure what the best course of action here is, but now that the tables have turned out of our favor, there will be some hard decisions we're going to have to make.'

Brenda and Iris both turn their heads at the sound of a soft knock on the door. John walks in and sits down.

'I just spoke with Christine back in California. She says that they haven't had any luck locating Brandon yet, but did get a phone call from a Mr. Bussichio, who had seen Brandon before he disappeared,' John explains.

'Nat? Brandon went to the Peach Pit?' Brenda asks him.

John shrugs his shoulders at her. 'There is no way for us to know whether or not Brandon has been taken or is just hiding out at this point. The agents are feverishly looking for him as we speak,' he says.

Brenda nods her head. 'John, is it possible that they're going to send us back to the states?'

'It's possible, but if they do that, you'll be under strict supervision, with agents around you all of the time. We can't take the chance of losing you and Iris to the Marchette family, since it seems that you are the one that they want,' he says.

'I'm supposed to be at the theatre in a few hours for the show,' she tells him.

'We've taken care of that for you.'

Jerry comes in to the room and sits down next to John.

'Ladies, it's been passed down to me that you are to be sent back immediately. As dangerous as that sounds at this moment in time, it is the only way for us to smoke out Marchette,' Jerry says.

'You'll be traveling with four agents and you'll be leaving within the hour,' he says and walks out of the room.

'Well, there it is,' John says and follows Jerry out of the room.

'Iris, what do you think is going to happen?' Brenda asks her.

'I'm not sure. With this ache in my chest, I can't focus on anything,' Iris says.

'Why don't you try to lie down and see if that helps,' Brenda suggests. She watches Iris lie down on the bed in the room. She gets up off of the floor and walks to the window.

'_Please be alright, please be alright. Nightmares can't last forever, right? God, I hope Dylan make it out of London without anyone knowing he was even here.'_


	16. Chapter 16

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 16**_

Brenda watches Iris try to rest. She picks up the cards from the floor and puts them back into Iris' purse.

'Okay, ladies, it's time,' Jerry says.

Brenda walks over to Iris and nudges her awake.

'Iris, it's time to go,' she says.

'Brenda,' Iris says, sitting up slowly, 'I really don't have a good feeling about this trip.'

'I know, Iris, but what other options do we have?' Brenda asks her.

Iris stares at Brenda and gags a little. She runs quickly out of the room to find a bathroom.

'Is she going to be alright?' Jerry asks Brenda.

'I really don't know,' Brenda says, shaking her head.

They arrive at the airport with the agents and board the plane right away.

* * * * *

Dylan holds on to the arm rests of his seat while the plane shakes violently. He watches the people around him start to turn in their seats and look around to see if anyone has started to panic.

He hears a few people begin to pray out loud as the plane continues to shake. He starts to breath slowly in and out trying to calm himself down. The plane begins to drop suddenly and a few people scream out loud.

* * * * *

_LAX Airport_

Brenda and Iris walk through the airport surrounded by the agents. Brenda watches the strange and confused looks on people's faces as they walk by.

'Iris, are you feeling any better?' she asks.

'A little, Brenda. I think I'll feel a lot better once they tell us where we're going,' Iris says. She takes Brenda's hand and holds it as they walk.

They get closer to the doors that lead outside when an announcement comes over the airport loudspeaker.

'Flight 8054 from London that was due to land three hours ago has been delayed due to turbulence. The plane will make an emergency landing in Las Vegas at McCarren International Airport. Please see an airline agent for connecting flight, rental car, bus, and other transportation information. Thank you.'

Iris stops dead in her tracks and pulls Brenda back with her. The agents stop and turn to look at them.

'Brenda,' she says.

Brenda stops and looks back at Iris.

Iris narrows her gaze on Brenda, looks up at where the announcement came from and starts to nod her head.

'Um, can we go please? Iris is about to get very, very sick,' Brenda makes up. The agents begin to walk quicker as Brenda hooks arms with Iris and walks faster to keep up with them.

They walk through the doors to leave the airport and right into a black Town Car. Two of the agents join them in the car as the other two get into a second car ahead of them.

* * * * *

Dylan files off of the plane with the rest of the passengers. They had been on the plane for nearly fifteen hours and had not yet reached their destination. The stewardess had told them to check with the airlines to see when a connecting flight to Los Angeles would be available, but Dylan decides that there is no way he was getting back on a plane.

He walks up and haggles with a no-name car rental company. He gets the teenager behind the counter to accept cash for the rental and record his name as Mark Folger. Dylan walks out to the car, throws his bag in the trunk, and starts to drive.

* * * * *

_Marchette Compound_

Valerie sits on the floor in the cell with Kelly, Donna, and Steve. They had brought her back down and unlocked the chains holding the rest of them to the wall.

'Valerie, are you sure you're alright? Your face is starting to bruise up,' Kelly says.

Valerie just nods her head and stares at the floor.

'What do they want with us? Did they tell you anything?' Steve asks her.

'They seem to think that by keeping us here, they will be able to get to Brandon, and I'm guessing through him, get to Dylan,' Valerie says.

'That's just ridiculous. Haven't they figured out yet that we have no idea where Dylan is?' Steve says, frustrated.

'I guess not,' Valerie says.

They all turn their heads toward the door as they hear footsteps coming down the steps. The door opens and two thugs shove Brandon into the cell with the rest of them.

'One big happy family,' one of them says with a smile on his face. The door shuts and locks from the outside as they all stand up and crowd around Brandon.

'Brandon, are you alright? What happened?' Kelly asks him.

'I was trying to figure out where you guys might be and I didn't even see them coming. They bull rushed me and tied my hands behind my back,' he says.

'Do you think they were following you the whole time? They knew that you were at Dylan's house with the FBI,' Steve says.

Brandon thinks about it for a few minutes. 'Yeah, they probably were. Damn it!'

'What?' Donna asks.

'I went to the Pit to ask Nat to call Christine and tell her what was going on. If they were following me, they saw me go in there,' Brandon says.

'I'm sure they're not even going to bother with Nat. They really just wanted you,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, I hope you're right,' Brandon says and sits down on the floor.

'What the hell are we going to do?' Steve says.

'I have no idea. I really hope that Nat got a hold of Christine and that somehow they were following me too,' Brandon says.

He puts his head in his hands and sighs heavily.

* * * * *

After four hours of driving, Dylan finally reaches the outskirts of the city. He pulls the car into a gas station, parks, and shuts it off. He stares out of the windshield trying to figure out what his next move is.

He knows that he can't go back to his house since he runs the risk of someone seeing him. He tries to decide what to do and turns his head at the sound of three motorcycles pulling into the gas station. He sees the bikers get off their bikes and walk into the store. He snaps his fingers and quickly turns the car back on.

He peels out of the gas station parking lot with one destination in mind.

* * * * *

Brenda looks out of the window of the car as they drive down the highway. She's not entirely sure where they are taking her and Iris, but begins to feel nervous and uneasy. She turns her head to look at Iris, who seems to have gotten paler since they left the airport.

'Iris, are you alright?' Brenda asks her. She sees one of the agents in the front seat turn and look at them.

Iris nods her head slowly and watches as the agent turns back to look at the road in front of them.

'I just have a feeling that something has gone horribly wrong. I can't put my finger on it, but something in this equation has changed,' Iris says.

'Everything is going to be alright, Iris. We're going to find Brandon and the others and get out of this whole situation,' Brenda says. She puts her hand on top of Iris' and sees her jolt backward at the touch.

'Oh,' Iris says quickly. 'I just got a flash in my head,' she says.

'What did you see?' Brenda asks her.

Iris turns and looks at Brenda. 'I'm not sure but it looked like you were standing in a library of some kind holding a gun,' Iris says.

Brenda eyes widen and she says, 'A gun? Why would I be holding a gun?'

'I don't know. This is not good,' Iris says. She leans her head back on the headrest and closes her eyes.

'Excuse me, are we almost there? Iris really needs to lie down and get some rest,' Brenda says to the agents.

'Yes ma'am,' one of them replies.

After about 25 minutes, the car pulls into a residential neighborhood that Brenda does not recognize. They pull into the driveway of one of the houses and park.

One of the agents gets out of the car and walks slowly to the front door. The door opens and Brenda sees him waving for them to join him. They get out of the car and enter the house.

'Brenda, I'm glad to see you two made it here alright,' Christine says, holding out her hand to Brenda.

Brenda shakes her hand briefly and puts her arm around Iris to steady her.

'Hi, listen, Iris really needs to lie down. Is there some place quiet where she could do that?' Brenda asks her.

'Yes, of course,' Christine says and begins to walk up the stairs to the second floor. 'Please, follow me.'

Brenda helps Iris up the stairs and gets her settled in one of the rooms.

'I'll be right downstairs talking with the agents if you need anything, okay?' she tells Iris.

Iris nods and closes her eyes.

Brenda walks back down the stairs and joins Christine in the living room area.

'Please tell me you have information on what happened to my brother?' Brenda says.

'Well, we have some information. We at least have an idea of where Brandon and the rest of your friends are being held,' she says.

'Where are they?' Brenda asks.

'From what the agents could determine, Marchette has a very large piece of land with several houses and buildings just north of Beverly Hills. The security around the perimeter and even inside of the houses matches and may even exceed that of a military base,' Christine explains.

'A military base? That does not sound promising,' Brenda says.

'The bureau is working on a plan to rescue your friends and nab Marchette and his men at the same time. It's going to be difficult, but we may need your help getting in the door. That is why it was essential to get you and Iris back here to the states. We can protect you, but if we run out of options we may need to use you and Iris,' Christine explains.

'Protect us? Weren't you supposed to be protecting Brandon and everyone else before we got here? I have to say that your offer of protection is not exactly comforting news,' Brenda tells her.

'Brenda, I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but we don't have a lot of time here. I don't think that Marchette wants to hurt you or your friends. If they did, this would have been over a long time ago,' Christine says solemnly.

Brenda nods her head slightly. 'I see,' she says.

'Listen, whatever you need me to do, I will do it,' she says and leaves the room to join Iris upstairs.

* * * * *

Dylan carefully pulls the car into the tiny parking lot. He looks around quickly to make sure he wasn't being followed. He gets out of the car with his bag and walks to one of the apartments and knocks on the door.

The door opens swiftly and Dylan can't help but smile at the surprised look on Jake's face.

'Dylan! Hey, how are you doing?' Jake says and ushers Dylan into the apartment.

'Jake, I'm so glad you are actually here right now,' Dylan says and gives Jake a hug.

'What's going on? I haven't heard from you in a while, I thought maybe you had fallen off the face of the Earth,' Jake says.

'Yeah, well, I did for a while, but I'm back now. Listen, I need some help.'

'Are you in big trouble or something?' Jake asks.

'Not exactly, but there are a few things I need to do and I can't do them alone.'

'Whatever you need, Dylan, I'm here for you man,' Jake says and sits down on the couch to listen to Dylan's story.

'Whoa,' Jake says after hearing what Dylan had been doing since the death of his wife. Dylan had told him the short version of the story and had managed to leave out the parts about his strange dreams.

'Dylan, I have no idea what you're thinking of doing, but maybe contacting the FBI right now is a good plan. You can't do this by yourself, and if you try, you're going to put yourself in a worse position than you are in right now,' Jake says.

Dylan nods his head at Jake's advice. 'I had a couple of scenarios in my head, but none of them turn out good,' Dylan says.

'You have to think about the other people involved in this now, Dylan. Brandon, Brenda, and your Mom are in the middle of this with you. You may not have wanted them to be, but they are and you have to consider them in every move you make from this point forward.'

'I didn't want them to be involved,' Dylan says, frustrated.

'Whether you wanted it or not, that's the way it is,' Jake says plainly.

Dylan puts his head in his hands and tries to figure out what he should do.

* * * * *

The door to the cell opens and several men walk in. Brandon looks up quickly as everyone else shuffles closer to each other. Valerie recognizes her contact standing in front of everyone and shivers a little bit when he starts to speak.

'Well, it looks like you guys were the perfect bait. Now that all of the chess pieces are on the board, it's time to start playing,' he says with a smirk.

Brandon's heart jumps a little bit when one of the men grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him to his feet.

'If everyone works out according to our plan, you guys will be back in the comforts of your own beds by tomorrow night.'

They leave the room with Brandon in tow. They drag Brandon into a room that is set up like an office space. There is a dark brooding man sitting in the chair behind the desk and he turns slightly when the door opens.

'Ah, yes, bring him in,' Marchette says.

The man holding Brandon shoves him into a chair in front of the desk. Marchette motions for them to leave the room and they do quickly.

'Brandon, you have no idea how much it's killing me to have to do this to you and your friends. I will never be able to explain all of it to you, but I hope that you believe me when I say my intentions are pure,' he says evenly.

Brandon shifts in the chair a little and meets Marchette's stare. He doesn't say a word and just folds his hands across his lap and waits for Marchette to continue.

'Something strange happened to me a while ago and it compelled me enough to want to make amends for the way I acted toward my daughter marrying Dylan.'

'Are you trying to say that you want to apologize for taking a hit out on Dylan?' Brandon asks him boldly.

'In a way, I guess that's part of it. There is something I have to do first to make this right and I was hoping that you could help me with it. Tell me about Brenda and Dylan,' Marchette says.

* * * * *

Brenda sits in a chair looking out the second floor window of the bedroom where Iris is sleeping. The color had begun to come back into Iris' face and she seemed to be having a restful sleep. Brenda sighs and leans her head on one of her hands. She stares across the street at a few little kids jumping and playing in the yard with their parents.

'_Why can't we just go back to having some semblance of a normal life? I just want this all to be over.'_

A tear rolls down Brenda's cheek as she hears a low knock on the door. She wipes her face quickly and stands up to open it.

Christine motions for her to follow and she leaves Iris sleeping in the room. She follows Christine down to the living room and sits down.

'Brenda, we just received a very interesting phone call. One of our agents thinks he might have seen Dylan in this area, but didn't get a good look and then lost him in traffic,' Christine says.

Brenda's heart starts to beat faster and she can feel her stomach tighten. 'Dylan's here in LA?' she tries to feign surprise.

'It seems that way, but we're still trying to confirm. Can you think of anywhere he would go right away?' Christine asks her.

'Well, I would start with his house and then maybe the Peach Pit,' Brenda says, knowing that Dylan wouldn't go anywhere near his house right now.

'We're monitoring those places on surveillance already. Can you think of any places that might go that isn't maybe that obvious?' she asks.

Brenda thinks for a few minutes. She tries to come up with any other place Dylan would possibly go, but couldn't really come up with anything at all.

'I really can't. Remember that I've been in London this whole time, I don't really know where Dylan goes anymore.

'Please think about it and let us know right away if you think of anything,' Christine says.

'I will,' Brenda answers and goes back upstairs to Iris.

She opens the door and sees Iris sitting up on the bed. She walks quickly to her and sits down.

'Iris, are you alright?' Brenda asks her.

'Yes, I'm alright. I almost forgot where I was. I was kind of hoping that this was just a terrible nightmare,' Iris says with a weak smile.

Brenda laughs a little bit. 'Unfortunately, we're still in this nightmare, but hope is possibly on the horizon.'

Iris lifts her head and waits for Brenda to tell her what's happened.

'Christine just told me that one of the agents thinks he may have seen Dylan in the area,' Brenda says quickly.

Iris lets out the breath she had been holding. 'Oh, that is great news,' Iris says.

Brenda looks at her with confusion. 'That's great news?'

'Brenda, if he's actually here, then it means that we're meant to be here too,' Iris says. She rubs her stomach and stands up. She stretches her body and breathes in and out slowly.

'Are you still in pain?' Brenda asks her.

'No, no pain at all and I don't feel nauseous anymore either,' Iris reveals. 'We have to find him somehow. He's going to need us.'

'Iris, how are we going to do that? We're surrounded by agents,' Brenda says.

'I'm not sure yet, but it will come to me,' Iris says and sits back down on the bed next to Brenda. Iris grabs her hand and squeezes it.


	17. Chapter 17

_**A Difficult Kind – Chapter 17**_

_Marchette's Study_

'Why should I tell you about them? The more information you have the more destructive you seem to get. I'm not sure giving you more ammunition is such a good idea,' Brandon says.

Marchette smiles a little and then quickly straightens his face.

'Brandon, please, I know it's hard for you to believe, since you've only really seen one side of me, that I am not out to hurt anyone, but I assure you on my daughter's grave that I just want to finish this and end it once and for all,' Marchette tells him.

Marchette shakes his head and takes a deep breath. He shifts a little in his chair and looks straight into Brandon's eyes.

'I cannot believe I am about to tell you this, but I think it might be the only way to get you to help me,' Marchette says as he opens a drawer and pulls out a few slips of paper.

He hands them across the desk to Brandon and motions for him to take them. Brandon tentatively removes the papers from Marchette's hand and stares blankly at them for a few seconds.

Realization comes over his face as he looks back up at Marchette and opens his mouth a little.

'These are the notes that I've been sending to you, in hopes that they would find their way to Dylan and that maybe he could find someone to translate them. One night, a little over a month ago, I started having very strange dreams. I really thought they were dreams at first and then soon realized that I was fully awake while they were occurring,' Marchette says.

'All I heard was a voice calling my name and I searched and searched, but could not find the source. After three nights of waking dreams, I finally got through and saw the image of my daughter in her wedding dress standing in front of me.'

Brandon's eyes widen and he leans in a little further to hear the rest of the story.

* * * * *

_Jake's Apartment_

'Okay, so I think we have a pretty solid plan, but I still think you should get the authorities involved, Dylan,' Jake says.

'I still might, but I don't want to get anyone else involved than I have to right now,' Dylan says, packing a bag.

'Do you have everything you need?'

'Yeah, I think so,' Dylan says, shaking Jake's hand. 'Thanks for the advice.'

'No problem, I'll see you in a little while,' Jake says.

Jake watches Dylan leave his apartment. He grabs his jacket and follows him out the door.

* * * * *

'Okay, so we're going to run the rounds first and then we'll see if Marchette shows his face,' Christine says.

Brenda and Iris nod as they get into the car. The car leads them through the neighborhood to one Brenda knows very well.

Her heart skips a beat as they pull up the driveway to what was her home for so many years. She slowly gets out of the car as the agents surround the house. Brenda helps Iris out of the car and sees Christine waving her in from the front door.

They walk into the house and Brenda looks around slowly, taking it all in. Iris wanders into the kitchen as the agents are searching the house and yard for any new clues. Brenda starts to walk up the stairs when she hears a scream.

'Iris!' she yells and runs as fast as she can into the kitchen.

Brenda flies into the room and sees Iris holding onto one of the chair legs, sitting on the floor.

'Iris, are you alright? What happened?' Brenda says quickly.

'Oh,' Iris says and holds her stomach. 'Brenda, there is something very wrong here.' Iris closes her eyes for a few seconds and lifts her head up.

'What is it?' Brenda asks her.

'Brenda,' Iris says softly and quietly, 'go and open the drawer next to the sink and tell me what's in there.'

Brenda stares at Iris for a few seconds trying to figure out what she could possibly be feeling.

'Brenda, go!' Iris says louder. Brenda gets up and notices that the room is now filled with agents and Christine. Brenda makes her way over to the drawer and pulls it open.

She sees a stack of papers and pulls them out of the drawer.

'It's a stack of papers, Iris,' she says and starts thumbing through them.

'Oh my God,' Brenda says and puts her hand up to her mouth.

'Yes, yes, what is it?' Iris says from the floor.

'It's a plan for getting me to come back to California,' Brenda starts to read a little more and gasps.

'Damn it! They were all in on it. They were trying to get me back here in the hope that Dylan would find out and come back. I think they may have been in cahoots with Marchette!' Brenda says angrily. She slams the paper down on the counter and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

'Why the hell would they do that?' Brenda asks loudly.

'Brenda,' Iris says, slowly getting up, 'I'm not sure what's going on, but they must have had some kind of inkling that getting you back here would bring Dylan out of hiding.'

'That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of, Iris. I mean, they should know better than anyone else that my whereabouts have no affect whatsoever on where Dylan decides to reside.'

'Well, maybe they did know that, but were desperate enough to try it,' Iris says.

'Okay, well, I think we're done here. We'll take these and see if there are any other clues. Let's move on,' Christine says.

They leave Casa Walsh and make their way over to Dylan's house.

Iris gets out of the car and stands in the walkway staring at the house.

'I can't go in there,' she says clearly.

Brenda turns and looks at her. 'Why not? What's the matter?'

'There's a terrible black cloud over this house. I can't go in,' Iris says and walks back to the car.

Brenda shakes her head and stares at Dylan's front door. She gets a chill up her spine and tries to shake it off before moving slowly into the house.

Her body begins to shake a little and her heart beats faster and faster as she stands in the entry way.

'Brenda, are you alright?' Christine asks her.

Brenda just nods her head and wills her body to move forward. She glances toward the couch and sees a memory of her and Dylan making out flash before her eyes. She quickly moves her head toward the kitchen and sees the bedroom door. Flashes of memories begin to flood her brain as she tries to push them away.

She grabs the top of one of the kitchen chairs to steady herself. She starts to slow her breathing and gets her heart rate under control when a knock on the door makes her jump out of her skin.

Everyone in the house freezes and stares at the closed door.

'Dylan? Dylan are you there?' Brenda hears a familiar voice. She waits a few seconds and then starts to walk toward the door.

She stands in front of the door and examines the figure on the other side through the glass.

'Dylan, come on, open up!' she hears. Brenda puts her hand behind her back waving the agents away and opens the door.

'Brenda?' Jake says with surprise.

'Jake?'

Jake smiles at her and takes a step forward. Brenda leans into him as he wraps his arms around her body.

'Jake, what are you doing here?'

'Who are all of these people?' Jake asks her.

'FBI agents, there are a lot of things happening right now that would take a year to explain,' Brenda says.

'I came around looking for Dylan, someone at the diner said that they saw him back in town,' Jake lies.

'Really? Have you seen him at all?' Brenda asks eagerly.

Jake shakes his head. 'No, I was hoping he'd be here, but I guess he's not.'

'Brenda, does Dylan have any special hiding places for important things that we may not have found the first time we were here?' Christine asks her.

Brenda turns her head and starts to laugh a little bit. She hears Jake join her and then clear his throat.

'Dylan has a lot of hiding places, but mostly for booze,' Brenda says. She walks over to the cabinet in the dining room and pulls up a chair. She stands on it and feels around the top of the cabinet. Jake watches her eyes widen and smiles a little when she pulls down a bottle of Jack Daniels.

'Oh, I see,' Christine says. 'Show me more.'

Brenda and Jake walk around the house looking in Dylan's known hiding places for bottles of alcohol.

Jake pulls down a locked box from a compartment in Dylan's closet and stares at it.

'It's locked,' he says and looks up at Brenda.

'Locked? He never locked away his alcohol,' Brenda stares at the box with confusion.

'Yeah, it would take way to long to get to if he was really hurting for a drink,' Jake says.

One of the agents starts to pick the lock on the box and gets it open within a minute.

Jake opens the box and looks inside for a few seconds before slamming it shut again.

'What?' Brenda asks him.

'Uh, these are his private things, I don't think anyone is looking for anything that's in this box,' Jake says quickly.

'Well, I'm sorry to invade Dylan's privacy, but I'm going to need to see what's in that box,' Christine says.

Jake reluctantly moves out of the way and pulls Brenda to the other side of the room.

'Wait, I want to see,' Brenda says.

'I don't think that's such a good idea,' Jake says seriously.

* * * * *

_Marchette's Study_

Marchette proceeded to tell Brandon about the apparition that looked and sounded like his daughter telling him that he needed to fix the situation with Dylan. She made him copy down each symbol by hand until he had it right and tried to make sure that they ended up in the hands of people who could help.

Marchette sighs and looks straight at Brandon. He tells him that the overwhelming guilt of murdering his own daughter was eating at him and he decided that if he made this right and pushed the right buttons, he may be able to stop his nightmares.

'Was Toni the one who told you about Brenda?' Brandon asks, trying to put all of the pieces together.

'Yes,' he says.

Brandon shakes his head and tries to figure out how Toni knew so much about Brenda.

'She said that while watching over Dylan, she kept seeing images of another woman, which she later discovered was Brenda.'

'Whoa, this is not only hard to believe but this story is getting creepier,' Brandon says and shivers a little.

'Please, Brandon, tell me about Brenda and Dylan, I need to understand this,' Marchette pleads. 'If I don't fix this, Toni will haunt me forever and I can't have that happen. My daughter deserves to rest.'

Brandon nods his head and proceeds to tell him how Brenda and Dylan got together and how they parted.

'So, they only dated for a little while back in high school?' Marchette asks Brandon.

Brandon nods his head and looks back up at Marchette, who has a very confused look on his face.

'I guess I was led to believe that this relationship was the most important thing to happen to Dylan until my daughter came around,' Marchette says.

'Well,' Brandon shrugs, 'it probably was. Dylan made a lot of mistakes and so did Brenda for that matter. They weren't ready for each other back then. I don't know that they ever will be ready for each other. They had both chosen completely separate paths, you know, with Dylan marrying Toni and Brenda living the life she wanted in London, it seemed like the end of a long, tumultuous road.'

'Maybe Toni was right,' Marchette says.

'Right about what?'

'That Brenda and Dylan were somehow spiritually connected. They were meant to be in each other's lives in some way, maybe not romantically, but their spirits are intertwined and in constant connection with each other.'

'Toni said that?' Brandon asks.

Marchette just nods his head. 'I need to find a way to get Brenda here. Maybe she can talk some sense into Dylan and allow this thing to move forward.'

'Let me just warn you now,' Brandon says, 'Brenda is a firecracker. If she knows that you've been keeping me and the rest of her friends locked up in a dungeon, you won't have the chance to talk it out with her. She's going to come fighting and she won't let up for one second until she gets what she wants.'

'Oh, I have ways of getting what I want from people. I'm sure with a little persuasion, she can be convinced of anything,' Marchette says with a smile.

Brandon smiles back and shakes his head. 'Clearly, you've never met my sister.'

* * * * *

_Dylan's house_

Christine finished looking through the contents of the box and locks it back up.

'You can put this back now,' she says to Jake, avoiding eye contact with Brenda as she leaves the room.

Brenda watches her leave the room and watches Jake put the box back where he found it.

'Jake, come on, now is not the time to be keeping stuff from me,' Brenda says.

Jakes thinks about the situation Dylan is in and all of the things that he heard last night. He looks back up at Brenda and smiles.

'Okay, fine, just don't freak out on me, or Dylan, if we ever find him,' Jake says.

Brenda sits on the bed and stares up at Jake.

Jake takes a deep breath and then sits down next to her. He grabs her hand with both of his and stares into her eyes.

'It was just a box full of,' Jake starts, 'mementos, if you will.'

Brenda stares at him with confusion.

'Mementos of you,' Jake finally says after a long pause.

'Me?' Brenda says a little shocked.

'Yeah, things that reminded him of you.'

Brenda shifts her eyes to the floor. 'Well, I'm sure he doesn't look at that stuff very often, I mean, it's locked up in the closet.'

'You're probably right.'

Christine pokes her head into the bedroom. 'We should really be going now, Brenda.'

'Yes, okay,' Brenda says and looks over at Jake.

'So are you mixed up with the FBI or something?' Jake asks her.

'Not really, Iris and I are staying with them so that they can protect us from anything some very bad people might do to us in hopes of finding Dylan,' she tells him.

'Right, well, just let me leave a note for Dylan and I'll be right behind you,' Jake says, trying to play it up and goes searching for some paper.

Jake jots a few things on a piece a paper and follows Brenda out of the house.

'Jake, it was great to see you. Take care of yourself, okay?' Brenda says and gives him a hug.

'I will,' Jake says as he watches them leave.

* * * * *

Dylan drives through the city trying to stay off of the main highway. He pulls into a parking lot near a park and gets out of the car. He grabs his bag from the back and makes his way into the park.

He finds a spot that is mostly obscured by trees and bushes and sits down.

* * * * *

Christine and the agents guide Brenda and Iris through the city to the Peach Pit. Brenda feels that familiar nostalgic wave wash over her as she stands in the diner.

'So, Brandon came here the night he called you and told Nat to call me and tell me what had happened. We haven't seen Nat since that night and the trail leads us to the back door,' Christine says as she walks through the kitchen to the alley door.

'Wait a second,' Brenda says following quickly, 'you didn't mention that Nat was missing too.'

'Well, he either went into hiding or Marchette has him too,' Christine says.

Brenda puts her head down and starts to shake her head. 'We have to end this. We have to end this now!' she says firmly.

'We're working on it Brenda. I'm hoping that somehow Marchette is having these places watched and has seen you and Iris with us. He'll probably try to contact you in some way to get you to give up Dylan's location, which is why you're going to stay in your house tonight.'

'What? Isn't that incredibly dangerous for me?' Brenda blurts out.

'Don't worry, we'll be there too, inside and outside of the house. We need to figure out if he'll make contact with you and we need it to happen as soon as possible. We're running out of time,' Christine says.

Brenda just nods her head and walks out of the diner to the sidewalk. She is followed by several agents and watched as she puts her hand to her head and leans against the building. She hears quick rustling and looks up the see the agents putting their hands on their weapons.

'That's far enough,' one of the agents says.

'Marchette requests a meeting with this fine young woman. You goons are of course invited to join her. Tonight, you know where,' a man in a white shirt and leather jacket says.

He winks at Brenda, waves to the agents, and walks down the street, disappearing into the crowd.

Brenda stands with her mouth open staring in the direction he went in as one of the agents tells the others what just happened.

'Brenda, are you alright?' Christine asks her flying out of the diner.

'I'm fine,' Brenda assures her. 'That was damn quick.'

'I thought it would be. Okay, we need to prepare for tonight. You and Iris must both go to the house to meet Marchette,' she tells Brenda.

'Is he really just going to let a bunch of FBI agents in his house?' she asks her.

'Yeah, just to keep the peace I'm sure,' she says. 'Let's go and prepare for this.'

They drive back to the safe house and Christine readies her best agents to protect Brenda and Iris at the Marchette house.

Brenda sits in the upstairs room with Iris.

'I have a bad feeling about this, Iris,' she says.

'I don't, Brenda. This is what we needed. We need to get inside and see this man for ourselves,' Iris says.

'I thought we needed to get him as far away from us so that he wouldn't find Dylan?' Brenda asks her.

'Well, he obviously hasn't found Dylan yet, or he wouldn't need us,' she says. 'Trust me, Brenda, this is right. We are meant to be there.'

'Iris, do you really think that my old friends and my brother were conspiring against me with Marchette?' Brenda asks quietly.

'Oh, sweetie, I don't know, but it looks like a very real possibility. I'm sure they have an explanation for it, albeit a bad one, but one nonetheless.'

'Yeah,' Brenda sighs, 'I just can't believe they would do that to me. I guess I should be used to them stabbing me in the back, but I was kind of hoping that they would have grown up by now.'

Iris touches Brenda's hand to comfort her, but pulls it back quickly when she feels a shock run up her arm and into her neck.

'Iris?' Brenda asks concerned, 'What happened?'

'A sharp tingling sensation just ran up my arm when I touched you,' she says.

Iris begins to rub her stomach and winces a little bit. 'It's happening. Now is the time,' she says.

Brenda jumps as the knock on the door. She stands up as the door opens and an agent sticks his head in.

'It's time to go,' he says, opening the door completely.


	18. Chapter 18

_**A Difficult Kind**__** – Chapter 18**_

Brenda nods to the agent and helps Iris up. They walk down to the car and get in to take the trip to meet Marchette.

'Now, Brenda, don't be nervous. Just find out as much as you can from Marchette about what's been happening and where your brother and friends are. If anything happens, we'll be right there. The place will be surrounded, so don't worry about your safety, okay?' Christine says.

'Yeah, right, okay,' Brenda says absentmindedly.

As the car gets closer and closer to their destination, Brenda's stomach turns to knots. Iris wavers in the backseat and puts her hand on the back of the front headrest.

'Pull over,' Brenda says loudly and clearly. The driver looks in the rearview at Iris and pulls over quickly.

_The Park_

Dylan hears a familiar whistle and returns the sound.

Jake comes through the trees to Dylan's hiding place and sits down with him.

'You're not going to believe this, but I ran into Brenda, Iris, and the FBI agents at your house when I went down there,' Jake says quickly.

'They were there? How did she look?' Dylan asks him.

Jake smiles at him and says, 'She looked great, Dylan.'

Jake sits down next to him and explains that Brenda and Iris were staying with the FBI agents somewhere for their protection.

'I think they were looking for more clues or something, hoping Iris would be able to help them, but she wouldn't go into the house. I think something's going on,' Jake says.

'Listen, if they were out and about in daylight that means they want someone to find them. Marchette probably knows that Brenda and Iris are back in California and that puts them in the worst possible situation,' Dylan says, thinking about his next move.

'What are you going to do?' Jake asks, as little scared.

'I have no choice. I have to reach him before they do. He wants me, not her.'

'Dylan, you're just going to walk up to him and give yourself up?' Jake asks.

'I have to, Jake. It's the only way to save them,' he says. He packs up his bag and shakes his friend's hand.

'Thank you for your help,' Dylan says before running off into the darkness.

'Damn!' Jake says and tries to follow him, but loses him the trees.

_Marchette's Study_

Brandon stares at Marchette trying to decide if he is really telling the truth when the intercom on his desk buzzes.

'Yes,' Marchette says.

'The bird has returned to the nest, sir,' a voice says through the intercom. Brandon sees Marchette smile as he puts his hands together.

'Excellent, give me a few minutes and then bring it to me,' he says. Marchette gets up and goes to the door.

'Bring him back,' he says to one of the guys standing outside the door. They come in and lead Brandon back down to the cell with the other.

Marchette smiles and laughs out loud to himself. 'I love it when things come together,' he says out loud.

The door opens and a body is thrown into the study. The door closes quickly behind and Marchette takes a step forward.

'I'm so glad you decided to drop by, Dylan,' he says.

Dylan stands up straight and stares him right in the eyes. 'What the hell do you want?' he asks with purpose.

'Come on, Dylan, it's not what you think,' he says.

_A few blocks from the Marchette compound_

Iris and Brenda stand on the side of the road. Iris had thrown up for the third time on the way from the safe house to Marchette's.

'Iris, we don't have to do this,' Brenda pleads with her.

'Yes,' Iris says as she swallows hard, 'we do.' Iris wipes her mouth and turns to get back in the car.

'Okay, I'm alright now,' Iris says to Christine and the other agent in the car.

He starts the car and slowly pulls away from the curb with the other agents following.

_Marchette's Study_

'You have me now, just leave everyone else out of this,' Dylan spits out him.

'If only it were that easy,' Marchette says, almost to himself. They hear the intercom buzz again.

'Your guests have arrived, sir,' a voice says.

'Of course, right on time,' he says.

'Who is it, who is here?' Dylan asks quickly. The door opens again and four men come into the room, grab Dylan by his hands and legs, and bring him down the hall to another room.

'This might be turn out to be a good day after all,' Marchette says as Brenda enters the room.

'Ms. Walsh, I presume,' he says to her.

Brenda nods and says, 'And I guess you are the man who's been making everyone I know run for their lives.'

Marchette laughs at her statement. 'If you want to look at it that way, but I think you and I both know that there is a very good cause behind all of this. Please make yourself comfortable,' he says gesturing to a chair.

'I think I'd rather stand,' she says with a stern, determined look on her face.

'Let me tell you why you're here, Ms. Walsh. Um, can I call you Brenda?' he asks her.

'First of all, I don't want you to call me anything. Second of all, you need to tell me where you've been hiding my brother and my friends and let them go. You have no right to kidnap people and hold them for ransom just because you think you've got some noble mission. Your actions over the last few weeks have tormented the people I care about the most in this world, all the while thinking I know something that I don't,' Brenda spits at him.

Marchette tries to say something, but Brenda cuts him off.

'How the hell do you even know who I am anyway? I wasn't even in the same country when Dylan met your daughter. I find it a little unnerving how I happen to be woven throughout this screwed up fairy tale you seem to be telling, when I have nothing to do with any of the people involved,' she says.

'Toni told me about you,' Marchette says, hoping to get Brenda to take a breath. Marchette finds himself laughing on the inside while remembering what Brandon had told him about his sister.

'Toni told you about me? How the hell is that possible? I never had a chance to meet her,' Brenda tells him.

'I know,' he says, 'she appeared before me as a spirit in her wedding dress and told me that Dylan had someone in his life watching over him, just like she was in death,' he says softer and softer, trying to calm Brenda down.

'She appeared before you in her wedding dress?' Brenda asks, reflecting back on something Dylan had said to her in London.

'Yes,' he says. He watches Brenda's shoulders drop slightly and knows that he has succeeded in getting through to her.

'Let me show you something,' Marchette says as he walks past Brenda and leaves the room.

Brenda jumps to her senses after a few seconds and starts hunting around the room for anything she could use against him. She rifles through the papers on his desk and sees the familiar symbols handwritten on pieces of paper. She opens a few drawers and gasps when she sees it.

The door starts to open and she instinctively grabs the gun from the drawer and points it at Marchette's head as he walks back into the room with Dylan.

'Brenda!' Dylan says quickly as he takes in the image of her standing firm holding the gun.

_The Cell_

Brandon paces back and forth telling them what he learned from Marchette.

'That is the sickest thing I've ever heard of,' Kelly says with disgust.

'I guess in his mind, he believes that he's doing what's best for his daughter and trying to make things right, but something about that doesn't quite add up,' Brandon says.

Valerie shrinks into the wall and tries to hide her face from them.

'Valerie, are you alright? Does your face hurt?' Donna asks her.

Valerie tries to hide her sobs, but can't quite do it and starts crying out loud.

'What's the matter?' Steve asks her, moving closer.

'Stay away from me!' she yells, which stops Steve and Brandon in their tracks.

'What the hell is the matter with you? Why are you crying? This is no time to break down,' Brandon says with frustration.

'I can't take it anymore. I can't! I'm a horrible person. I'm just a horrible person and you should all stay away from me,' she says, getting up quickly and hovering by the door.

Donna and Kelly exchange looks of confusion.

'Why are you a bad person? You didn't do anything to deserve being punched in the face,' Steve says.

'God, Steve, you are so dense. It has nothing to do with my face!' she yells.

_The Study_

'Brenda, don't do anything stupid with that,' Marchette says carefully.

'You will let me brother and my friends go. You will never try to contact us ever again and you will let Dylan mourn his dead wife. You will take responsibility for being the jackass that you are and you will stop trying to ruin our lives. I will not stand for you infiltrating my family and turning them against me,' Brenda says with determination.

'Brenda, this has nothing to do with your family and everything to do with you, Dylan, and my daughter. I had no idea you were involved until Toni told me that you were. Please try to understand, there was no other way for me to do this. I needed to bring us all together, and with Toni's help, I was able to do that,' Marchette explains.

Dylan turns to look at Marchette. 'What do you mean with Toni's help?'

'Toni was the only one who could connect with your mother. Iris was able to do what we couldn't do. She's the only one who could interpret these cartoon characters into something real, which brought you all here to me,' Marchette says quickly, still eyeing the gun in Brenda's hands.

Dylan stares with his mouth open trying to comprehend what he just heard.

'Toni appeared to me, Dylan. She came to me and told me that I had to make this right. It is the only way her spirit will finally be able to rest. Without it, she's doomed to wander and haunt me, us, for the rest of eternity,' he says.

'I promised her, Dylan. I promised her that I would make this right,' he says with pleading eyes.

The three of them are blinded for a few seconds as a brilliant flash of light appears in the room. Brenda shields her eyes from the bright light and moves behind the desk chair for cover.

Dylan is pushed onto the couch, while Marchette takes a few steps backward and hits the door.

They open their eyes after the initial flash to reveal a very clear image of Toni Marchette in her wedding dress floating in the middle of the room.

Brenda stares and tries to convince herself that she's not actually seeing what is in front of her. She sees Dylan slide off of the couch onto his knees. She registers the look of absolute fear on Marchette's face for just a second, before he regains some composure.

'Iris,' Toni says. 'Iris.'

The three of them look at each other to make sure that they heard the same thing. Marchette quickly opens the door a crack and tells the guard to bring Iris up to the room.

'Uh, sir, she passed out in the foyer a minute ago,' he is informed by one of his thugs.

'Bring her up here now! Carry her if you have to!' he yells.

Marchette grabs Iris' limp body from one of the thugs and slams the door shut. He carefully places her on the couch as Dylan immediately turns around and tries to wake her up.

'Mom, wake up! Mom!' Dylan says loudly.

'Save her, Dylan. Save her. She's in pain. She's in danger. Save her. Connect to the strength and save her,' they hear Toni say.

Dylan immediately turns to Brenda when he hears Toni's words.

'Brenda, help me!!!' he says frantically.

_The Cell_

'Valerie, I suggest you tell us what the hell is going on before more than your face hurts,' Brandon says, reaching the peak of his frustration.

'I didn't mean to, I swear. I'm weak,' she says.

'Spill it, now!' Steve says.

Valerie takes a deep breath and looks around the room at the people who will never trust her again, if they ever did.

'I was motivated by the reward and I couldn't help myself,' Valerie pauses and takes a deep breath. 'I'm a traitor.'

They let her words sink in for a few seconds before anyone dares to say anything.

'What!?!' Brandon says.

'I was feeding you guys information I got from one of Marchette's guys. I was just trying to get Dylan back here quicker so that,' she stops mid-sentence.

'Please, oh, please, tell me this has nothing to do with the fact that you thought you could convince Dylan to be with you if he came back here?' Kelly says.

Valerie says nothing in response to Kelly's accusation.

'Oh my God,' Donna says. 'I think I'm going to throw up.'

'Are you kidding me?' Brandon yells. 'You put all of our lives in danger in the hope that something would happen with him? I cannot believe I am standing here listening to this!'

'I hope the offer was really, really good, because you're never going to see the light of day to get it,' Steve says loudly. He takes a step forward toward Valerie, when the door lock clicks.

Valerie sidesteps out of the way as the door flies open.

'That's enough noise down here,' Valerie's contact says.

'Let's go,' he grabs her and slams the door shut.

'Bring that tramp back here, she's got a date with my fist!' Steve yells through the bars.

'I can't believe she would do that,' Donna says.

'I can,' Kelly says. 'Bitch.'

_The Study_

Brenda puts the gun down and runs over to Iris. She starts to feel a tingling sensation in her hand and arm. She stares down at her body, trying to figure out what the hell was happening to her, when she sees Dylan's desperate look.

Brenda places her tingling hand on Iris' forehead and feels a surge move through her body and out of her fingertips into Iris' head.

Brenda is thrown backward by the force as Iris slowly wakes and sits up.

Toni begins to speak what sounds like a foreign language as soon as Iris notices that she's in the room.

Dylan stares at his mother, listening to her speak in tongues to the spirit of his dead wife.

Brenda steadies herself and gets up off of the floor. She notices that Marchette has not moved from his position at the door, as he stands in amazement of what is transpiring in front of him.

Toni stops talking to Iris and turns her attention to Dylan.

'Dylan, be strong. Be strong for the ones that you love. Live your life with love in your heart every day,' Toni says.

She turns to address her father. 'Father, your servitude is complete. You must now leave this place and never come back, just as you promised me.'

'Brenda,' Toni says. Brenda turns to look up at the spirit in front of her. This is the first time that she has actually heard Toni's real voice.

Toni smiles at her and says, 'The strength. Trust your feelings, Brenda. Trust them and take care of your love,' she says.

Toni slowly fades out of the room, leaving Iris, Dylan, Marchette, and Brenda staring into the middle of the room at nothing.

Brenda moves quickly toward Iris.

'Iris, are you alright?'

Iris stares at the floor for a few seconds before lifting her head to look at Brenda. 'You know something? I finally feel like myself again,' she says.

Brenda and Iris smile at each other. Brenda helps Iris up off of the couch as Dylan takes a step forward and puts his arms around both of them.

He squeezes them tight to his body and closes his eyes.

Marchette walks behind them to the intercom and orders the release of Brandon, Kelly, Steve, Donna, and Valerie.

'You are free to go,' he says to Dylan, Brenda, and Iris. 'As I promised my daughter, I'll be leaving this place, never to return.'

Dylan nods his head and leads his girls out of the room and back down to the foyer. The agents sees them coming and move quickly to help them down the steps.

'Brenda!'

Brenda turns at the voice and almost runs into her brother's arms. 'Brandon, are you alright?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, are you alright?'

Brenda nods as he hugs her tightly.

They start to leave when one of the agents notices that someone is missing.

'Where's the other girl?' he asks them.

Brenda looks around and tries to figure out who's missing.

'Where's Valerie?'

'Um, she was taken from the cell a while ago, but I'm sure she's fine. She knows one of the guys that works for Marchette,' Brandon says.

Brenda and Dylan both turn to him with confused looks.

'I'll explain it to you later, let's get out of here.'

The group walks out of the house and into the cars with the agents.

'Dylan!' Christine says when she sees him.

'Christine, how did I know you'd figure this whole thing out?' he says.

'It would have been easier if you would have cooperated a little bit. One of our agents was stuck in the Grand Canyon looking for clues,' she says with a laugh.

'Yeah, what was that anyway?' one of the agents asked.

Dylan smiles and starts to laugh. 'Toni and I were planning a trip,' he says.

'Of course,' Christine says as she directs the driver out of the compound.

'The only one we don't have is Valerie,' Brenda tells her as they are driving away.

'Where's Valerie?'

'Apparently she knew one of the guys that works for Marchette or something. Brandon knows what happened, he didn't seem that concerned about it, so I'm sure it's not a big deal,' Brenda says.

'We have who's important, that's all I care about right now. Iris, how are you feeling?' Christine asks her.

'Oh, much better, thank you,' she says.

The agents drop Brenda, Iris, Dylan, and Brandon off at Dylan's house. They walk up to the door and see Jake waiting for them.

'Dylan!' he says with a huge smile on his face.

'I made it out, Jake. Thanks for your help,' Dylan says, hugging him.

'Help? You knew he was here?' Brenda asks him.

Jake looks at her and pointedly shakes his head. Brenda thinks back to Jake's reluctance to tell her what was in the box they found in Dylan's closet and realizes what he is trying to say to her.

Brenda nods her head back at him and smiles.


	19. Chapter 19

_**A Difficult Kind – Chapter 19**_

Brenda, Brandon, Iris, Dylan, and Jake go inside and sit Iris on the couch.

'I'm going to make you some tea, Iris, okay?' Brenda says, walking toward the kitchen.

'Okay, dear,' she says.

Jake makes sure that they are all okay, before saying goodbye and taking off.

Dylan and Brandon sit down and relax for a few minutes until Brenda comes back. She sits next to Dylan and Brandon watches as he automatically puts his hand on her back.

'Brandon, what happened to Valerie?' Brenda asks him.

Brandon tells them what Valerie revealed when they were in the cell. He tells them that she was the one leaving the notes and suggesting that they call Brenda.

'Why, Brandon? Why would she do such a thing?' Brenda asks.

Brandon hesitates a little and decides that what they don't know won't hurt them. 'I'm not sure, Bren. We were yelling and screaming at her so loudly that the guy she had been talking to came in and took her from the cell.'

Brenda sighs and finishes her cup of tea.

'I think it's time we got back to the house,' Brenda says and stands up.

Dylan looks at her for a few seconds and then nods his head.

'We all need to get some rest after everything we've been through,' Dylan says, looking over at Iris.

'I agree. Brenda, will I see you tomorrow?' Iris asks her, knowing that Dylan wouldn't.

'Of course, you should come over to the house and we'll get some breakfast or something,' Brenda says.

Iris nods her head and waves goodbye as they leave the house. Iris watches Dylan's face as he follows Brenda with his eyes until the door closes.

'Dylan, I'm so glad you're okay,' she says to him.

He hugs his mother and sits back down on the couch with her.

'Mom, that had to be the strangest thing I've ever seen. What did Toni say to you?' Dylan asks her.

'Nothing you need to worry yourself about. So, how do you feel now?' Iris asks him.

'Relieved,' Dylan tells her. 'I can't even describe the incredible feeling of relief that this is finally over and I know that Toni is resting peacefully.'

'She seems like one special lady,' Iris says.

Dylan nods his head and stares at the floor.

'Speaking of special ladies,' Iris prompts.

Dylan slowly turns his head toward her. 'I don't think now is a good time to talk about that, Mom.'

'It never is,' Iris says with a smile.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda wakes up the next morning feeling as if she hadn't slept in ten years. She takes a shower, gets dressed, and goes downstairs to make some coffee. She enters the kitchen and sees Brandon feverishly cooking.

'Brandon, what are you doing?' she asks him, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

'Making breakfast for you and anyone else you may have invited over,' he says with a smile.

Brenda stares at him and realizes that she hasn't seen him actually smile in a long time.

The doorbell rings and Brenda moves to answer it.

'Good morning,' Iris says and gives Brenda a hug.

'Good morning, Iris, you look great,' Brenda notices.

'I feel so wonderful, I can't even describe it. Oh, what's that smell?' Iris goes to the kitchen to investigate.

Brenda and Dylan exchange glances. Dylan leans down and kisses her on the cheek.

'Good morning, Bren,' he says and follows Iris to the kitchen. Brenda stands in the foyer watching him disappear through the kitchen door.

Brenda decides to forget everything that's happened between her and Brandon for the duration of this meal and try to enjoy the feeling of having people that she cares about around her again.

She walks into the kitchen with a smile on her face, sits down, and begins to eat.

'So, what are your plans now that you're feeling better, Iris?' Brandon asks her.

'I'm going to head back to Hawaii and relax for a long time,' she says.

'When are you going to go back?' Brandon asks.

'This afternoon,' she informs him.

'That quickly? I was hoping we'd get to spend some more time together,' Brenda says.

'I've had enough excitement over the last month, I need to just take it easy for a while,' Iris says. 'Not that I haven't enjoyed our time together, Brenda, but I miss my home and my bed.'

'Yeah, I know that feeling,' Brenda says. Dylan immediately looks up at her as if he had just realized that she no longer lived in this country.

'What are you going to do, Bren?' he asks her quickly.

'Well, the show I was in the middle of doing will be over next weekend, and there's no point in going back now, so I guess I'll stay around for Christmas and then go back to London to get on with my life,' Brenda tells him.

Dylan's face falls a little bit as Brandon watches the interaction with amazement. He can see their emotions and feelings for each other clearly written on both of their faces. He shakes his head a little bit and continues to eat.

Brenda looks across the table at Brandon and catches his eye. He tries to look sympathetic to her internal dilemma, but doesn't think she recognizes what he's trying to get across.

Brenda and Brandon say goodbye to Iris after breakfast.

'Thank you for everything, Iris. I'm sorry you had to physically suffer through this,' Brenda tells her.

'We're all better people because of it Brenda, just remember what you have learned about yourself,' Iris says, kissing her on the cheek.

Brenda smiles and hugs her. She turns around after closing the door to see Brandon sitting on the steps.

'Bren?' he says with hope in his voice, 'can we talk?'

Brenda sighs and nods her head. She walks toward him, grabs one of his hands, and leads him to the living room.

'It's about time we figure this out,' Brenda says. 'Now is as good a time as any.'

'I agree,' Brandon says. 'First, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I did and everything I said. I thought I was doing it for a good reason, but I've come to realize that I was trying to stop something that was not in my control in the first place,' Brandon begins.

'Bren, I was sitting here one day after Dylan told me about the wedding and I was trying to figure out the best way to break the news to you. I was so determined to get you over him and on with your life that I made a bad choice and I think we've both suffered because of it,' Brandon says.

'I wanted to get you mad at me, I wanted to get your attention away from the fact that you were losing Dylan to someone else, and so I provoked you. When I left you that horrible message I kept trying to tell myself that somehow I was protecting you from him and the hurt you would feel if you really got a chance to sit down and think about what had happened. I didn't want you to relive that difficult kind of love and hatred you had already been through with him,' Brandon drops his head and lets out a deep breath.

Brenda listens to what he had told her and starts to feel the anger rise within her body.

'Brandon, I get the fact that you thought your intentions were good and that you were kind of doing me a favor, but how could you ever think that getting me mad at you would stop me from thinking about him?' Brenda asks him.

'I don't know, Bren,' Brandon says as he starts to tear up. 'I was stupid. I wanted my sister back, the Brenda I grew up with, and I had been searching for her for so long that I just couldn't take it anymore. I was foolish and I did a very bad thing to you. I will understand if you never forgive me for it, but I was just trying to help, and I screwed it up even more.

Brenda watches her brother break down in front of her. She can't help but feel a little sorry for him. She puts her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him.

'I should have been there for you. I can't imagine what you went through after hearing that message and finding out that Dylan was getting married at the same time,' Brandon says. 'I'm sorry.'

'Well, I dealt with it just fine and what do you know, I'm still here,' Brenda says.

Brandon looks into her eyes searching for some indication of her feelings.

'It's okay, Brandon. I will forgive you on one condition,' she says. He locks eyes with her and waits for her to continue.

'You have to promise to never, ever, do something this stupid ever again.'

Brandon lets a little smile cross his face. 'I promise,' he whispers. She puts her arms around him and holds him tight until he stops crying.

'And another thing,' Brenda says sternly, 'no more conspiring against me. How could you not tell me what was going on earlier?'

'I don't know, Bren. We were all sitting here in the kitchen one day after receiving the first note, trying to figure out what to do. Now that I think about it, Valerie was the one to suggest trying to get you to come back and everyone thought that it was such a good plan, that I didn't even think about how wrong it was,' Brandon tells her.

'Brandon, I know at the time we weren't getting along at all, but I'm still your sister. You should have told me,' she says.

'I know, I know I should have. No more mysteries, no more lies, and no more silent treatment,' he says.

They smile at the same time and wrap their arms around each other tightly.

A knock at the door makes the twins jump at the same time. They both start to laugh as Brandon wipes his face with a tissue and Brenda opens the door.

'Hey,' Dylan says and steps inside.

'Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you,' Brenda says. 'Did Iris get off alright?'

'Yeah, she did. Look, I'm not sure when you were planning on leaving, but I wanted to make sure that we had a chance to talk before you skipped continents again,' Dylan says while looking into her eyes.

Brenda knows that they really had a lot to talk about, but after her conversation with Brandon, she wasn't sure that she was up for another heart to heart. She can't think of a good reason to get out of it, so she resigns herself to another emotional conversation.

'Okay, Dylan,' she says, trying to hide her reluctant tone. She turns to see Brandon in the doorway.

'We're going out for a bit, Brandon,' she tells him.

'Dude, are you alright?' Dylan asks Brandon, seeing the redness in his face.

'Yeah, I'm fine. Have fun you two,' he says quickly and goes up the steps two at a time.

Brenda follows Dylan to his car and says nothing as he drives up a familiar road that leads to the beach.

Dylan parks the car and shuts off the engine.

'What was wrong with Brandon?' he asks her.

'We had just finished talking about our situation when you knocked,' Brenda tells him.

'Oh,' Dylan says, 'how did that go?'

'He told me that he was mean and rude and left that horrible message on my answering machine because he was trying to save me from the pain I would feel when he told me that you were getting married. He really thought that the best thing for me was to get me mad at him so that I wouldn't be focusing on you,' Brenda says.

'Wow, that's messed up,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, it is, but I can see how, in his slightly retarded brain, it seemed like his best option. He was just trying to protect me and I have to give him a little credit for that, of course the way he handled it was just plain wrong, but his heart was in the right place,' Brenda admits.

'So, are you guys alright now?' Dylan asks her.

'Yeah, I think so,' Brenda says with a smile.

'You're really going back to London, Bren?' Dylan asks suddenly.

Brenda turns to look at him, but he's staring out into the water.

'Yes, Dylan, I'm really going back to London. It's where I live, it's where I work, and it's been home for the past two years,' she says.

'I know, I was just hoping that maybe you'd want to stick around for a while, that's all. I really missed you last night. I was trying to fall asleep and I got up and wandered around the house wondering where you could be,' Dylan says with a laugh. 'I know it's stupid, but that's what I was doing at 3:30 this morning.'

Brenda laughs with him and recalls staring at the ceiling not being able to sleep herself.

'Dylan, you came to me with a purpose. You didn't come to me because you wanted to. Just because we were in close proximity to each other for an extended period of time, doesn't mean anything. That's not what friendships or relationships are built on. I will always be here for you, no matter what, that hasn't changed, but Brandon was right in a way. I can't put things on hold to wait for you to make up your mind,' Brenda says honestly.

Dylan is a little shocked by what Brenda just said to him and stares at her blankly for several seconds.

'We've been through a lot in a very short amount of time. Just give it some time and figure out what you really want. I promised to take care of you and I will, but I can't do that if you're scattered all over the place,' she says.

Dylan lets out the breath he was holding and grabs her hand.

'Yeah, I know you're right. I think I need some time to just relax,' Dylan says.

'Hawaii is beautiful this time of year,' Brenda suggests with a smile.

Dylan looks into her beautiful eyes and smiles back.

'I'm not going anywhere, Dylan. I'll be right where you found me the last time when you're ready to really talk about this,' Brenda says.

Dylan nods his head and kisses the back of her hand.

_Casa Walsh – the day after Christmas_

Brenda smiles to herself as she brings her bag down to the front door. She looks into the living room and remembers the perfect Christmas surrounded by all of her friends.

She started the day off scolding them for conspiring against her and forcing her to put her life in danger to save theirs.

After a round of apologies, Brenda decided that it was time to leave Beverly Hills and tells her friends that she'd be going back to London the next day.

Brandon comes barreling down the stairs and stops short on the last step.

'Bren,' he says, out of breath.

'Yeah?'

'I have two things I want to say before you leave for the airport. One, you better make room because I'm coming out to visit you as soon as I can get some time off,' Brandon says.

Brenda nods her head and smiles at him.

'And two, I love you.'

Brenda hugs her brother and says, 'I love you too, Brandon.'

Brenda hears a car horn and quickly grabs her bag.

'Call me when you get there,' Brandon warns her.

'Okay, okay,' Brenda says and runs out to the driveway.

She gets into Dylan's car and he smiles at her as he backs up and drives away from the house.

Dylan had insisted on driving her to the airport and changed his flight to Hawaii to leave just after hers.

They walk into the airport together and stand in front of the concourse after going through security.

Brenda looks down at the floor for a few seconds before raising her eyes to meet his.

'I just want you to know that you are very special to me and that I will never forget what you did for me,' Dylan says.

Brenda smiles up at him as he leans down to kiss her. She lets him do it and loses herself for just a second in the soft touch of his lips to hers.

'I better go,' she says quickly.

Dylan puts his arms around her and pulls her tightly to his body.

'I'm really going to miss you, Bren,' he whispers in her ear.

'Me too, Dylan,' she whispers back. She kisses him quickly on the cheek, grabs her bag, and walks away.

He watches her walk down the concourse, wiping the tears from her face, until he can no longer see her. He holds back his own tears that were threatening to fall, grabs his bag, and walks slowly toward his plane.

He turns for a brief second, kisses his hand, blows it in her direction, and continues to walk away.

**To Be Continued. . .**

_**Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed the suspense and thrill of this story. It took a while to get out, but I couldn't be happier with it. Stay tuned for the sequel, coming soon, people will be found, loose ends will be tied, and more! Find out what happens next with the gang!**_


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